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After many conversations with people back home in the US, New Zealand and Italy, I can safely say we are prepared. I never realized the benefits of our lifestyle from a long term perspective until this pandemic came to life. The first confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Albania happened Monday morning. I happen to be in Shkoder that afternoon unaware of the news. Our new friends shared they had overheard the news on the bus about two confirmed cases. This explained the lines and full carts at the grocery store, I was just the chauffeur. Observing the items in the carts in mass were frying oil, flour and sugar. I had to return to Shkoder on Tuesday and there was no mass buying or shelf clearing activities going on. By Wednesday the government introduced measures by Friday to lock down the personal vehicle traffic in the major cities, flights and ferries from Italy and Greece halted, the land borders are shut down for traffic other than transit goods. No known cases in northern Albania so movement to the grocery stores and the next town isn't a problem yet. How has this affected our daily lives? To be honest it hasn't. We are still planting and working the garden, going about our day as usual. How? Well on most days we only interact with the neighbors via a holler over the fence, and the only company we have at the moment are our chickens and pigs. We did exam our pantry, freezer and deep freeze to check what we had and we are amazing prepared for months if required. Great thing about being a homesteader is that our garden, eggs via hens, and orchard provide enough food for a long while. And we have enough wine and raki to last a small army. A more positive note, yesterday I took a trip around the garden with the camera to capture our trees that are starting to flower. We are still fundraising for the local library. The donated books are heading to Albania. If you like to find out more please checkout our page: https://www.homesteadalbania.com/stockthelibrary

Tomorrow, March 5th is World Book Day. Books have been the topic of conversation in our household the last few months. We received notification this morning that our partners with Int'l Book Project have shipped two pallets = 5,941 books to Albania from the US! We are excited to see this vision finally start to take shape. We are still short the funds but have six weeks to fund raise. To learn more about our project with the local library and classrooms click here: https://www.homesteadalbania.com/stockthelibrary Found the image of me with a book from my youth, we hope to bring this joy to the kids here next month! Thanks in advance for your support. How can you help? Donate today via PayPal using the Donate button or via VenMo @HomesteadAlbania. Sale proceeds from Art's books will also go towards our project, if you haven't already ordered a copy, it's available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/32UwIsD

Did you ever attend story hour at the county or community library, spend countless hours of your youth browsing the shelves at a library, read every Judy Bloom book, or spent hours researching term papers in a library? Now imagine that resource never existed. We (Art and I) are actively working with Int'l Book Project to bring over a shipment of books for the near empty school libraries here in Bajzë, Albania. We toured the school libraries with the local school administration. It was very sad some scholastic books were decades old, tattered, covers and pages missing and the shelves were barely stocked. The nearest community library is in the capital, Tirana, 2 hours by car and most would have to take a bus to travel that far so closer to 4 hours. Reading is the weakest subject in Albania, the EU Ministry of Education and Sports in cooperation with UNICEF, is promoting the ‘Albania Reads’ initiative to improve the country’s performance in reading. As many people have transitioned to e-readers or the Kindle app on a phone, access for the 450 school aged children is very limited. Most households don't have a working computer, internet or cell phones for the children. So books in hand are crucial to swing the learning curve in a positive direction and inspire the next generation. While Albania’s economy continues to grow, its total government expenditure is the lowest in Southeastern Europe with only 3% of its budget allocated to education and 3.7% to health. Our local teachers furnish everything for their classrooms including desks, chairs, computers, projectors and scholastic materials. The teacher's dedication to the youth is astounding, they provide so much for their classrooms and students. Our fundraising goal is $15,000 this breaks down to: Approximately 5,941 Books donated by the Int'l Book Project Shipment from US to Albania = $4627 Port fees, taxes and shipping in Albania = approximately $3800 New Projectors/cost of shipping for the classrooms = $2500 Two Laptops/catalog software for the School Librarians = $2000 New shelving, two rolling book carts and paint for the libraries = $2073 We are actively looking for local businesses and community leaders to assist with fundraising but I hope my friends, family and neighbors back home can help support literacy and our rural community teachers. How can you help? Donate today via PayPal using the Donate button or via VenMo @HomesteadAlbania. Our goal is to have the project fully funded by April 30th. Thanks in advance for your support! Science Teacher provided everything but building structure including the table and chairs.

We finally captured the homestead via drone and surrounding scenic views, enjoy!

We finished the last batch of Raki and decided to take a little day hike in Bogë, Albania to a path we started but didn't complete (time constraints) a few months ago. Mission accomplished. Check out the beautiful fall day we experienced with some pretty amazing views. Raki blog and video coming soon, don't forget to subscribe to get the latest content posted. Cheers!

In Albania, Raki is steadfast tradition and a must have in all households as it is served to guests, it is also the toasting or salute beverage of the country to honor any loss or celebration such as a marriage or new child. **Fun fact, my roots in the US go back to the settler's by the legendary name 'The Hatfields', as in the 'Hatfield and McCoys' family feud and known moonshiners. Who knew my ancestry research would show true skills are past down over the generations, ha ha. ** Moonshine aka Raki is a distilled alcohol made from fermented fruit. The leftover grape mush post wine withdrawl is left to ferment for an additional 10 days with an added mixture of heated water with dissolved sugar. Why the added sugar? The sugar helps further break down the fruit and raise the alcohol levels when distilled. Total fermentation of the grape mush will be around 28-32 days. Items required before we began our distillation: nice weather with no rain as we are outside and need to keep a fire lit, plenty of firewood for said fire, alcohol level meter, containers sterilize and ready, and loads of patience. When we moved the fermented mush from the barrel to the still, we removed the stems to reduce any bitterness. We also added some raki from last year to strengthen the first batch, this step is not required but does assist with getting started. To seal the still we used a paste made of flour and water at each joint. The still set up pictured below is custom made by a local craftsman near Lezhe. The blue barrel is filled with water to insulate the pipe running to the spout at the bottom and Art whittled a stick down to add to the spout for the alcohol to exit in a fluid stream. Once the alcohol starts a steady stream we always inspect for clarity and quality before putting the container down to collect. Also we always place a filter, clean dry white cotton, to catch any loose particles when distilling and filter again once the batch is ready to be bottled. Patience is key, the fire needs to be held at a steady point so no smoke exits the spout with the alcohol. This process is very tedious but creates a better product in the end. After the first hour we measure the alcohol levels and will continue until the initial batch reaches 20 degrees. Once we have achieved this we move the first batch out and filter into a sterilized glass container, this is essentially ready to serve. The second container still collecting is called 'karrabash' and this weaker portion is used to help strengthen the next batch we distill. We can increase the fire a bit at this point and once the alcohol level reaches 5 degrees, we remove the collection and start the break down of the still. First by breaking the seals and then by cleaning out each of the pieces, minus the water in the blue barrel. We just add additional water each time. Each batch takes around six hours to distill, and this year we made seven batches. The video below highlights steps of this year's production. Cheers! What are your thoughts or comments?

Vine to Wine series completed for this years batch. From the care of the vines in early February to the harvesting and fermenting it has been quite the journey. We are living in a beautiful corner and are very blessed to have had such a great year with our vineyard. We produced 90 kg of wine, that is approximately 130 bottles. But here is the catch, we have to wait a year before we bottle to let the wine age properly. Trust we did dip in to test the batch and it turned out amazing so I can't wait to try after some aging. Check out the video below that captures the journey from vine to wine, let us know if you have any questions in the comment section below. I will also be posting the Art of Making Raki later today.

On Sunday, my husband, a few friends, and I left with intentions of showing them the Mokset Castle, we had discovered the previous summer. We chose a new path we discovered via drone and google maps and after some deviation from the trail we made our way to the top. The views of the lake with the 360° span of mountains spanning over to Montenegro. It truly is quite magical. We departed the castle and headed for the fort we had visited on several other hikes before getting back to the car for a stunning sunset over Lake Shkoder. This trail along with a few others has sparked some inspiration to promote the north. We are thinking of starting a trail guide and vineyard tour service along with a book in progress to document the lesser known but still fantastic trails in northern Albania. We are also actively working to secure some accommodations for visitors that will provide an opportunity to truly get a feel for why we love northern Albania. Would you discover Albania with Art and I?

Today we are celebrating Art's first book launch of Northern Albanian Folk Tales, Myths and Legends. It is a collection of short stories inspired by tales shared by his grandfather Gjeto. A special thanks to our dear friend, Sarah Boyd, she took the time to help with the edits and we were able to publish via Amazon. All book sale proceeds will go toward our Stock the Library Project, to learn more check out the post below: https://www.homesteadalbania.com/post/bajze-library-and-school-project The paperback version includes artwork and photos available on Amazon now! <-- The ebook is also available on Amazon for the Kindle. (minus the artwork) -->

Yesterday Art and I had the pleasure of taking a group from Tirana. Northern Albania is covered in amazing hiking trails, one of our favorites is the hills of Mokset in Gashaj (42.283025, 19.387027). The trail borders Lake Shkoder, a spring called the Black Eye, several old communist bunkers along the path and an old army post with several out buildings. From the post elevation capture 360° panoramic views of the mountains of Albania, the valley town Bajze and Montenegro Mountains. It is a beginner/intermediate hike, 2-4 hours depending on the routes. Do you want to join us for a day hike as we document the trails of northern Albania? We hope to document a new trail every two weeks.

After three trips with countless photos and videos I have finally uploaded a video that shows the pieces that are the magic of the Albanian Alps. Planning for some serious hiking this summer near Tamare, Ostrici, Lepushe and Vermosh. Are you planning a trip to Albania? Consider the wonder of the Albanian Alps.

My memories from about four years old are pretty visibly clear about a lot of events throughout my life to now, my husband can only remember small blips of anything before his early teens. His recall void has started to blossom a bit after being back on his home turf. Yesterday we hiked the land beyond the mount behind the house. The land is covered in trees, shrubs, rocks and wild flowers, flashback to the eighties, only rocks and herb bushes, no trees. The communist chopped all trees and vines, not in communist orchards, in the north lands for firewood to bake bread. A pear tree the width of my husbands arm span once stood near where our house stands today. Now, I can circle my hands around most of our pear trees. A cavern called the 'Horse Cave', named after a horse once fell into the deep cavern was rescued by locals via ropes. A narrow entry to this cavern were white like crystals that his brother and him played with as kids. The landscape changes made navigating a little challenging so we tackled this with a drone. He flew passes over the areas we had not covered already on foot and found a possible location, we tore our way through the heavy growth to a cavern but no shiny crystals. His remark, "If I had a memory like yours we would have walked right to it! Can you hypnotize me?" I laughed but wonder what else is locked behind the veil? The area has several caves and caverns so there is likely more to discover. The joy etched on my husband's face during the hunt was worth the scratches and face plant with near twisted ankle.

Snow capped mountains added a pretty stunning backdrop to the footage of our town. Check out the latest video tour of Bajzë,

Finding the balance and pace of what we could accomplish in one day to the next was less complicated than I expected. New furniture was delivered, additional pieces ordered, figuring out the routine for remote work (installed back-up batteries for power outage support for modem), enjoyed our meals on our front porch and the never ending game of pick up from our yard kept us busy during the first few weeks. The home and land had not been maintained for over a decade and when I mentioned in a previous post that new windows and doors were installed, I failed to mention the old ones were still in the backyard along with loads of other materials and rubbish. My husband started on what is now part of our massive garden with cabbage, onion, and garlic. During our weekends we explored the lake, nearby towns, hiked the land behind the house collecting wild pears, matter for tea and pomegranates and harvested the persimmons. We acquired some bikes from family in the area, bought and tried out new fishing gear, went on a very long hike with his sister and her family that was supposedly for fishing but it was more like over the mountain and through the woods and explored a few castles. The weather in the fall is ideal, warm sunny low 70s, perfect for exploring. And since we were receiving a bucket of fresh cows milk a few times a week, from the neighbor, we even tried our hand at making homemade cream cheese, because why not. The texture and taste turned out pretty good. We also picked the last of the grapes for wine and eventually raki. The art of making homemade wine was fun, messy and delicious. Once we sorted most of the leaves from the grapes we placed them a large plastic container after manually hand mashing the grapes, like I said fun but messy!! He promised our first harvest the following year I could feet smash the grapes, gitty excited! And now the waiting part and twice daily smash begins. After 7 days, we were able siphon the liquid and sift the grape mush. At this stage it is DELICIOUS!!! We continue to siphon and sift the mixture for another 2 to 4 days. We funnel the liquid into 5 gallon glass jars and after a few days of rest we sift and transfer to wine bottles and cork. Supplies for this are available at most stores around the area as it is tradition to make homemade wine and raki. Ok, some of you may or may not know what raki is so let me explain. Raki, pronounced Rah Key in English, is the Albanian equivalence to moonshine in America. It is distilled liquor from fermented fruit. It is very strong and can still be felt for a few minutes after each swallow. We made our first batch together from the grapes post wine. We were blissfully aware and overwhelmed with how happy we were to be living together and free from the what if conversations that plagued our year.

Our home, built by my husband, his brother and his late father in the mid 90's. It is a rock and cement home, most of the building materials for this home came from the land and mountain behind the home. His childhood home is no longer standing, it was a large multi-family home where his grandparents, two uncles and their families, and his family resided. Homes in Albania tend to accommodate multi-family/generations, our home was built for a single family, although originally it was discussed to add a second floor but it remained a single floor home with two bedrooms, one formal living room and a kitchen family room combo, and a bathroom. When his family immigrated to the states in the late 90's it was left as is for almost two decades minus a brief stay by his sister and her in-law's family while they were building their home. Some improvements were done during that time such as new windows, roof, doors, kitchen cabinets, and tile. My husband arrived in September to start the process of getting the house ready to be occupied. Some furniture, dishes, linens and other odds and ends were left by his family and his sisters so he had some sorting to do and some deep cleaning. By the time I arrived in October he had new custom furniture and closets made and set up in our bedroom, washer and dryer installed, gravel poured for an actual driveway, buried the water line, gas and electric up and running, fiber internet installed, acquired two pigs Bacon and Sausage and deep cleaned (mostly his sister) the entire home. We did sort through the rest of the linens and furniture after I arrived and kept the dining room table and chairs, coffee table and a box of linens, the rest of the furniture and linens were given to a local family in need. It was a wonderful homecoming after 6 months and two continents apart. We took our time exploring the hill, land, caves and views behind the house. It was fall so the colors were magical and we collected wild pomegranates, tea and pears from the trees and land. And I got my first lesson on the vines in our vineyard and garden. We have variety of fruit trees in our garden two varieties of persimmons, quinces, pears, plums, dates, thanas, olives, three varieties of mulberries, figs, pomegranates, four varieties of apples, cherry, peach, bobes and several blackberry and blueberry bushes. Growing up the closest I ever got to gardening at home was when we left out pumpkins on the side of the house and the next year we had vines with pumpkins, beyond that my aunt and grandma had gardens. I had zero experience with the planting, maintenance or harvesting. We finished up my first week with a bit of shopping for new custom furniture for the living rooms and second bedroom. And I started to work from home in the early mornings and late evenings to keep in contact with the correct time zones for New Zealand.

After four months living apart from my husband, me in New Zealand and him in Albania, I made a trip back to Albania to visit and discuss our future. We thought New Zealand was perfect timing but it appears that with one delay comes additional delays in the land of visas. I had 10 days in Albania, we took a beautiful three day trip to southern Albania along the Adriatic Sea, it was magical. During this road trip my heart started to expand with love and admiration for this country. We also took some time to explore the northern mountains and his hometown Bajze. By day 9, I was totally smitten with all that was Albania and after we walked his family home and land I knew we were home. Many factors weighed decisions on how to execute this and if it was even possible including work, finances, transportation and moving two continents in one year. My lease in New Zealand ended in September 30 so we had a time frame to figure out logistics. My career, ended up taking a temporary contract when I left New Zealand extending my employment until the end of 2018. Transportation, we were able to sell my New Zealand car back and purchase a new car in Albania and finances were secured with our savings and a little lady luck. The move, packing up our Florida house in February, packing up my Auckland apartment in September, jail breaking my clothes out of customs (the bags weighed too much) and reuniting with my husband was 100% all worth it!! Fast forward recap: Plan A and B - Consider mission complete Plan C - We now live and work my husband's home and land that has been in his family for ten generations. We have experienced the loss of my father-in-law and his mother is now living with us full time. In my next series, I will take you through our home and land on what we have done to get it up and running after we arrived.

In 2016, our goal was to pay off as much debt as possible and still save 20% or more of our yearly income. I had student loans (over 35k), car loan (16k) and my niece's braces (less than 1k) to pay off, my husband had zero debt minus our home that we shared. We managed to pay off my debt minus our home before the end of the year with careful budgeting and a side hustle of AirBNB. And we had finally saved enough that we could discuss options for Plan B, my goal to live and work abroad. My first thought was Australia, his was New Zealand. My career in Health IT made either country an option but after research, weighing the pros and cons of each country and further discussion, New Zealand seem to be a better fit. I booked an exploratory trip to New Zealand for fall of 2016 to see if it was indeed as clean, friendly and beautiful as all of our research indicated. It checked all the right boxes. We knew that could be a great option but we were still working on Plan A. Fast forward recap: Plan A - Debt minus house erased and savings growing every month Plan B - Live and work abroad possible option New Zealand Plan C - Live in family home in Bajze, Albania

We have spent the last month harvesting and juicing the domestic pomegranates from our garden and have collected wild pomegranates from this hill side to make a syrup concentrate for the winter. This year the domestic pomegranates were sweet and refreshing and even some of the wild pomegranates were not too tart. So why pomegranate juice? It is rich in antioxidant polyphenols, which can reverse atherosclerosis as well as vascular inflammation, and thereby lower blood pressure. In addition to antioxidants, pomegranates are a source of fiber, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin K and potassium. And it has other anti-inflammatory effects. We love our pomegranates, do you?

My husband and I had the pleasure of spending some quality time with our nephew visiting from Michigan and took the day to drive to the northern tip of Albania in the Albanian Accursed Alps. We have taken this trip at various times during the year and we are always amazed how the change of season enhances the landscape in various beautiful ways. The day was a clear bright blue sky day and although chilly the Alps did not disappoint. Standing near at the large cross in the hillside looking out over the town of Hot is a stunning view of Lake Shkodra, the mountains in Montenegro and the Malesi e Madhe countryside. As you ride further north you will pass a small valley town in a bowl, Stare, flat valley town Rrapshë and then the opening to the canyon with a lookout point over looking the river, Montenegro crossing and S curve highway down in to the canyon. The views are quite stunning. As we made our way down into the valley the waterfalls that looked like frozen lines on the face of the mountain were alive and roaring. I am a huge sucker for the natural beauty of a waterfall however big or small. We made a few short stops to take a few photos and then a longer stop in Tamarë. We often make a stop here, this village has newly constructed buildings with stone exteriors in the likes of a town square. It is made up of many bar restaurants, information site, a few small shops and still growing with what looks like a small hotel. We always visit the Producte Natyrale shop, they sale various organic blueberry, grape, juniper, cornel, pomegranate and plum raki, liquor, juice, jams, and tea; we usually pick up a kilogram of dried blueberries for tea for my mother-in-law but we also walked away with four bottles bitter (juniper) raki (good medicinal remedy), pomegranate syrup, thana (cornel) raki, and rose raki . The town also has a hydro station for power nearby and the town is bordered by the river and a few waterfalls. When we visited in March we discovered a few trails near this town so it could be a great place to stay for a night or two and discover more of this idealistic valley town. The landscape as you leave and head north towards Vermosh has various elevations and the road follows along side a river and through a few small towns. In the spring the town of Selcë has lovely blooming plum trees that are very picturesque. There are also several waterfalls that seem to cry from the clouds down the surface of the mountain. And one valley town of Ostrici has a backdrop of a large waterfall that traces high into the peaks. We know of some trails that go up to the two buildings overlooking the town, and have added to our summer to do list. We made a small stop at Restaurant Bar Luka Mkushit for a few small plates and coffee, the food and service were great as well. And then we pushed on to Lëpushë, they had fresh snow on the road entrance to the town and we were in a car with out snow chains so we didn't chance leaving the main motor way. But we did stop to breathe in the ever stunning views. Taken in March Taken in June Taken in December Vermosh was our last stop on the tour and the valley is home to several cabins, camp sites, hotels, hostels and a few bar restaurants. This valley town surrounded by the Albanian Alps is the northern tip of Albania and borders Montenegro. It also has two rivers that cross and intersect with a large blue waterfall. As we made our way back to Bajze we did make a few photo stops as the lighting had changed and brought a new perspective. And as we rounded the corner to the spot of our first photo stops the sun was setting over the mountains in Montenegro. In 2020, we plan to spend a week or so between Lepushe and Vermosh to hike the many trails in the area. Leave a comment below if you would like to know when and tag along!

The basic question "Where are you from?" has been constant in my life for the last 20 years. My response, "Lawson is a small commuter town northeast of Kansas City on the Missouri side." A few follow it up with more questions, but it is often the first and only impression I give in regards to Lawson. So this is my chance to make a first or second impression about the who, what, and where of Lawson Missouri. Lawson has two blinking lights at the intersection of 69 Highway and D Highway to D and C Highway, otherwise known as three mile. It has one main drag, the main street is called Pennsylvania Street with a church, the newspaper office, one law office, post office, bank, diner, video store, drug store, small clinic, small grocery store, hair salons, tavern, water service office, tax office, police department, city office, funeral home and small hardware store and the town square with a gazebo and playground equipment. This has all changed or evolved during my 20 year absence so each time I am home I tend to go out of my way to drive down this strip to see what's new or gone since my last visit. Population during my youth was maybe 1,800 people mostly caucasian and nearly all second or third generation Lawson residents. A large number of the residents worked and commuted to the Ford factory in Claycomo, worked at the local school or farmed. Today the population has grown to 2,400 people, bit more diverse but the largest employer for the Lawson residents, I think is still the Ford factory and local school. When you grow up small you know all. A town this small comes with perks as a kid, scrape a knee while out raising hell on your bike in town, no problem knock on the nearest door and the door is answered with a familiar face. Trick or treat was never a concern of safety, home after dark little concern because it was a small town if you did something you shouldn't the news traveled home quickly. We had the freedom in the summers to ride our bikes to the pool, to friends or family homes unsupervised, uptown for the best vanilla Dr. Pepper or butterscotch milkshake from the drug store, evenings filled with the sounds of engines revving at the local Sand Drag race strip, and the occasional tornado after a wonderfully loud thunderstorm. And one long weekend a year the Annual Lawson Picnic kicks off with a parade, highly sought after and delicious funnel cakes from the Boy Scout stand, competitive fishing tournament at the city lake (otherwise known to locals as the Tank Pond), cutest baby contest, bingo games, and carnival rides (favorites were always the tilt or wheel and the scrambler, today both would likely make me ill). August to May our town revolved around the sports, plays or concerts, the town coming out in large numbers to cheer for and support the local students. We were small but mighty when it came to community unity and support. Funerals and visitations were exhausting for any family as the entire town came to support and share mournful respect for the departed. Funerals were more common in my youth than weddings or birthday parties. Sadly I never realized that wasn't the norm until college when a dorm mate had to return home for their first funeral ever; college, they made it 18 years with out a funeral? When I ask the others on my floor the average number of funerals they had attended was around 3 and usually only direct family members. When I call home every week we still discuss the latest departed. My Old Union church family and youth group were EPIC. In the mid to late 90s we had one of two of the largest youth groups in town. Wednesday nights were loud but amazing especially when we had Brent and Diana B leading the youth. They were even were brave enough to host an all night lock in at their home which always resulted in the largest and longest outdoor sardines/hide and seek game because they lived out in the sticks. Our group also had a great mission to serve with visits to the local nursing homes, mission trips to Haiti and services at the youth detention centers out at Watkins Mill. The youth at Old Union also spent two weeks a summer at Jr Camp as camper or counselor depending on your age and/or Tri-State plus 1 Camp (MO, IA, OK and Arkansas was added late hints the plus 1) for kids 13 and older. Both camps hold hilarious and fun memories, we loss two beautiful souls we cherished from these times way to soon, Kris M and Ben P. I found a notebook from the last camp I attended while packing to move abroad and spent about an hour reading, laughing and crying recalling the memories and loss. I was blessed with a large loving church family that I could always count on since I was waddling around the church nursery playing with Ronnie A, piano lessons with the late great Margie B, tall George B with his giant bass and his meaningful words of wisdom, Roy and Ralph B giving me a hard time for never wearing shoes in church, and wonderful memories of weekend float trips with Toby and Angie, guess who is coming to dinner with Garland and Patsy, the infamous Ernie, for hitting every skunk on the way to Colorado for a church retreat, his hugs and Easter morning eggs, Dick T with his pocket full of suckers and so many more lovely souls including the ones that have left our family for their eternal rest Norma, Beverly S, Sue B, Bill B, Doris Kay, Jesse, Marvin D, and Harry (I still hear his beautiful distinct baritone voice every time I hear an old hymn). To my Old Union family thank you for supporting and loving my family for the last five decades. To the Lawson Senior Services committee, local sororities, TOPS group, woman's weekly prayer group, senior transportation service, and other weekly groups that set up card parties, events and entertainment for our seniors, THANK YOU!!! The weekly conversations with my Grandma Rexena, 86 this Saturday, who has the busiest social calendar I know, is in large part to the community and locals that serve. My appreciation and admiration for all that you do for this beautiful generation makes my heart so full. To the latch key kids that my mother, Candy, took care of before and after school thank you for entertaining her for nearly 20 years, and to the city of Lawson and local Park Board, bless your heart for employing my 'retired' father, Mark and his get it done now and right the first time stubborn work ethic, he is our bear we know he can be grizzly and soft. And to the community of Lawson, thank you for making it a wonderful, happy, safe and charming childhood for my generation we had it made!! If you are living or relocating to the Kansas City area and want a small charming town with great schools, amazing community support, loving church families and more consider Lawson. How does your hometown compare? Let me know in the comments below.