"It's beginning to look a lot like..."

It is my last week at the office before taking off for the holidays. In looking ahead, I begin by looking back...

About thirty years ago, my Aunt Shirley, her husband (Uncle) Mick, and their five children (my cousins) left Winchester, Virginia, for Seattle, Washington, where Mick took ownership of an office supply company. They have been there ever since. Of the forty cousins on my mother's side, it is the Lampkins who are among those I have missed the most. The last time I saw them was when our Grandma Rosselot (pronounced ROSS-uh-low) died about ten years ago. By then they had all grown and were having children of their own. I learned of how the younger cousins looked up to the older ones. (I was number three in seniority.)

While Mick's business prospered, the marriage suffered. Eventually he and Shirley filed for divorce after 22 years of marriage. It was Shirley, of all those in my extended family, who helped me get through my own separation and divorce.

This year, many of my friends in the zydeco dance community will be headed to southwestern Louisiana for the holidays, and an endless stream of holiday celebrations, culminating on New Year's Eve. I cannot afford to go, and so was faced with the prospect of a hauntingly quiet (make that exceedingly dull) Christmas season. But fate took its turn, and I was (shall we say?) made an offer I couldn't refuse, to visit Seattle for both Christmas and New Year's. Inasmuch as Seattle has a very active zydeco scene, I have sufficient occasions for celebration already lined up. (Thanks, Gary.)

One week from today, I will get on a plane for the first time since "Nine-Eleven," and set my sights for my farthest adventure ever. I hope to continue making entries to this weblog during my journey, to give my impressions of the region, and compare it with life back east. I also expect to party 'til the music stops. Yeah, you right!

But most important, I am using this opportunity to continue my journey of self-discovery, one that I described in my weblog entry of November 14, 2002.

While I'm in Seattle, I expect I will run into at least one prominent member of St Blog's Parish.

Stay tuned...

(Oh, one more thing. Don't tell my Mom and Dad. I have to keep them in the dark until Christmas Day on this one. It's a long story.)