Al and I were delighted on Sunday, September 9, 2012, to have Suzy and Fran, Andy and Meghan Talarowski from Philadelphia here at Willow Valley for Sunday dinner and a great afternoon of family conversation.

Meghan is starting her second year of graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania in Landscape Architecture, and in our tour of the court yard she especially liked the wisteria area.

She is pleased with her schedule this year, which includes a trip to New Mexico to study desert aspects for her studio project, and to San Francisco to visit family and friends later in September.

When we returned to our apartment we discussed their summer’s activities, which included several weeks in Japan, a week at the shore with Fran’s family, moving to a new apartment, and canning lots of tomatoes.

The pleasure she showed with the quarts and pints of her efforts reminded me of my Dad’s Mother, Ma, showing Mother and me, as a child, the shelves in her basement full of her summer’s canning.

Andy is studying for another exam at Ace Insurance Company in Philadelphia on October 31. As an actuary specializing in workmen’s compensation he was in Atlanta, Georgia, on a business trip and just missed Suzy, who was there for her job as Executive Director of the Engineers Club of Philadelphia.

Fran is still enjoying teaching math at Springfield High School, and part time at Widner College. The four of them went hiking over Labor Day weekend, and their pleasure in each others company is a joy to behold.