Louisiana and farewell to Ft Worth

I have now searched through 1/2 of the 35,000 photos and these are the only ones I have found of the several hundred that are missing.  

While in Louisiana I saw my Lambert cousin, Jo Beverly; second cousin, Kim; friend, Brenda; Maxwell cousins, Elizabeth (Tinker) and Patsy; Aunt Doris; cousin, Jamie and wife, Linda; a bunch of Linda's family; 

...and finally, Uncle Merrill and cousin, Denise.

Denise with husband, Dwight. 

  I am just sick about losing so many of the photos.  They are my record of family and friends and places I've been and it hurts not to have them here. To me, the importance of the photos is significant.  In the years I've been traveling, I have lost so many friends (Warren, Hal, David, Harve and Gretchen)  brother-in-law, Don; aunts (Pauline, Lucille) and uncle (Joe).  

Even on this trip Jo Beverly, Kim, Brenda and I were on the way to spend a day with another Lambert cousin, Dot, when we received word that Dot had suffered a stroke that morning. She was gone by that evening.  She and Jo Beverly had been friends as children--some 75 years ago and had not seen each other in years.  So sad.

Being on the road, living in an RV, traveling to visit relatives and 

friends, has given me the opportunity to reconnect.  When I started this Odyssey I was determined to find them all--some I had not seen in years, some I had lost touch with, and some I barely knew existed.  Now they are a part of my life and have made this adventure so special.

And speaking of 'Special', while visiting Aunt Louise, she received an invitation to attend a luncheon in her hometown of Sulphur Springs.  The occasion was to honor past residents who were over 90  years of age.  Since Aunt Louise will be 97 in October, we weren't going to miss it.

We packed a bag with her favorite slippers, hopped in her car and drove three hours to spend the night at a Hampton Inn.

 There were a surprising number of nonagenarians from Sulphur Springs.  

Aunt Louise's cousins, Grace and Glenda, came for the grand affair.

While we were gone, Daisy spent a night in the Doggie Hotel at PetSmart.  I think she had a good time because she was totally exhausted when I picked her up.

It was finally time to say farewell to Aunt Louise, Suzanne and little Erin.   

The storms kept rolling in so I changed my plans a bit and decided to head straight toward New Mexico.  The hail was becoming a constant worry and I have had enough of 'tornedo warnings'.