Life keeps being life

What a rocky start to this blog, but life keeps being life…

A much-anticipated road trip

In spring of this year my husband and I took a much-needed vacation, a road trip down through Pennsylvania and Virginia, passing through farmland, over mountains, and by seacoast. The highlight was that our daughter and her partner joined us for a few days in Virginia Beach. We had rooms right on the beach that saw the sunrise over the ocean. Another wonderful part of the trip was Skyline Drive – a place we hadn’t been in more than ten years, with a few nights spent at the truly fantastic Skyland Lodge, which is right up in the mountains.

Life turned upside down

We had decided to spend our last few days of the vacation visiting my mother-in-law outside NYC. The kids were joining us as well, so it was a great time to all be together. It is difficult to sum up what became some of the hardest months we’ve ever experienced… On our last day we took my mother-in-law to a doctor’s appointment, and from there – at doctor’s orders – to the ER. There she received a horrible diagnosis, and she was given two months to live. She passed away forty days later. My mother-in-law had been healthy and vibrant, extremely active, and eternally upbeat. The diagnosis was shocking, and the progression of the illness devastating.

And after

Many who read this blog will be at least somewhat familiar with what those months would have been like, the difficulty of making all the necessary arrangements, settling the affairs, emptying the apartment, and all of the family dynamics and tensions. I don’t need to go into details.

Family tributes instead of family trees

This blog therefore seems to have become a place of remembrance, not in genealogy so much as in tribute or memorial. It is not an exaggeration to say I am still recovering (emotionally and physically) from those months, though the dust has settled. I decided to write this quick post to explain my long absence. I do intend on getting back to blogging, on general family history, and genealogy!

Shenandoah and Skyland Lodge

I took the photo above from the Stony Man Trail in Shenandoah National Park. Skyland Lodge is nestled in the trees, and visible (but barely so) in the image. I highly recommend a trip down Skyline Drive if you’ve never done it before, and also highly recommend staying over at Skyland Lodge! My husband and I often think of getting back.

My ancestors settled in the Shenandoah Valley, in what are now Hampshire Co, WV and Frederick Co, VA as early as the mid-eighteenth century. My grandfather was born in Lehew, WV, and many of my family members lived in Capon Bridge and surrounding towns. I loved visiting the whole area growing up, and visiting my grandfather, who by then was living in Winchester. Skyline Drive’s northern entrance is in nearby Front Royal. So, this post does touch on genealogy a little bit 😉

Thanks for visiting, and as always, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

~ Nellie