The more things change the more they stay the same II

 So that is how it all began for us in Hendersonville. A hike, a visit, a weekend… a tour of Carriage Park. Buying a lot. Buying a townhome in the Cloisters… all pretty Amazing!

All happening while we were rounding the corner on 30 years working in Spartanburg and seeing that our baby girl was growing up and starting her own life. Somewhere along in there, I convinced Lauren to come for a hike with me. We met downtown at Black Bear Coffee, a place that had become and iconic stop for us whenever we came to Hendersonville. Again, this was when all these things, Black Bear espresso coffee, Hannah Flanagan’s , Kilwinns… Everything was unique and special. I went in and got us coffees. Dolce was anxious while I was gone. Lauren went in to get herself something and Dolce got anxious while she was gone. We deduced that Dolce wanted to keep the Pack together. Off we went to DuPont and I played 50’s doo whap music on the way out. Somehow I thought that contributed to the moment. Lauren looked at me like she wasn’t quite sure. We got to our parking at the top of DuPont and hiked to Triple Falls. Now I was the genius who knew his way around. I remember we took Dolce down to a creek along the trail. We looked at the falls. We had a very nice time that meant the world to me because I knew it was special. Lauren had grown up. She volunteered to do this with her dad. This wasn’t like 10 years ago when you Simple tell your kids your going for a family trip. I think of the time when I thought I’d try fishing and after about 10 minutes Lauren turned to me and said, Daddy why are we sitting here doing nothing?

So on this day we had our Daddy/Daughter hike in the mountains. I don’t remember anything much beyond what I just said. This is why I take a lot of pictures. Apparently aria didn’t take a lot of pictures so here we are with just a few imperfect memories of what, in my mind was a perfect day. 

That day was before Lauren and Sam. Certainly before their marriage. It was before Nolan and Wes and Dexter. It was before 2bCRNA, I think??? Maybe not. Maybe it was while she was setting her goals. But now Lauren is All, all grown up. She has asked me to join her and her beautiful family on hiking outings. It is so wonderful and I am so lucky. So things have changed but in some special and meaningful ways, they have stayed the same.