Elly Bennett seemed happier and more relaxed on Wednesday, August 7, 2013, when she had lunch with Al and me here at Willow Valley than any other time I can remember.

She and Jon Thomson completed their New York State law exams last Wednesday after receiving their JD degrees from Georgetown University Law Center in May. We discussed her evaluation of the last three years, and the end of her long academic career. She is ready to start new life in the “real” world.

This weekend she will conduct a wedding ceremony on the Massachusetts coast for a couple she introduced several years ago. She and Jon leave on August 13 for a well earned vacation on one of the Bahia Islands off Honduras where they plan to learn to scuba dive, returning August 25.

Elly had just turned 5 when Al and I moved to Willow Valley on July 26, 1994. We have enjoyed watching her grow “in wisdom and stature”, and she is the last of our 9 grandchildren to complete their educations. It is the end of one era and the beginning of another for us, and we feel so very fortunate to have lived such long and fulfilling lives.