It’s the end of May, 2018. I’m sitting at the picnic table in our campsite at Mountain Vista Campground in Stroudsburg, PA sipping my morning coffee (I’ve been decaff’d for the record), and feeling a need to wrap up the last 23 years of my life so that Barbara and I can mosey on down the road. In November 1995 we packed-up, left Indiana and settled in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It’s the standard American dream to take a new job to improve your lot in life, and with unbreakable promises to my children, off we went. It’s been a time of all those cliché words–growthful, exciting, difficult, with some tremendous struggles, heartfelt pain, joy, love, new friends, old friendships, lots and lots and lots of travel, the Big Apple, City of Brotherly Love, mistakes and all the right moves. You get the picture.
After a year living in a townhouse, we found a lovely home in Bethlehem Township that was perfect for 2, great when our kids were with us, OK for a small party of 7-10, and a little cramped but doable for 25+ for a Passover Seder. Jordan lived with us for several years, and we had the usual repairs and made some upgrades.
So many memories of our life here – New Year’s Eve in Times Square, going to Broadway, Yankee and Oriole games, sharing a beer with my oldest, having Graham and Leigh in Philadelphia and DC for a bunch of years, trips to Fairfax to have time with the Duckenfield crew, parties at the house, the Heavenly Hedgehog and associated shenanigans, breaking the Yom Kippur fast with our Muslim friends at their restaurant, the birth of grandkids, KI and Rabbi Seth, the Philadelphia Flower Show, Barbara and Gail dancing with the crowd at the Mummer’s Day parade, family and friends visiting, times with Tom and Landa, Bailey and Pam, Neil and Gail, Tammy and Ben, Scott and Tracy, Stacey and Mike, Marty and Susanne, Sue and Maggie, Sue and Didi, Roma and Jim, Bill and Karen. Getting to know Jon as an adult and celebrating his marriage to Lucy and the birth of their first child. Jordan and Jaimee and Ava and Helena in our backyard. Long road trips to see Elyssa, Ben, Maggie and Penny; to see Spencer, Vange, Aurora, Julian and Kyra. There have been lots of times I thought our life had become mundane and routine. Looking back we have been blessed with a loving family, the best in friends, and all-in-all a pretty damn rich life.
So here are a couple of pictures, just in case you (and we) want to remember the house on Dartmouth Drive.
We thank each an every one of you for such wonderful memories, and we will always hold you in our hearts.
See you on the road!
Barbara and Brian
Aimless Wanderings 
👍🏼😘
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