Iowa? You a wa!

We had nice drive from northern Minnesota to Des Moines, Iowa. Traffic around Minneapolis was heavy, and our scenery has changed a lot:




We spent two nights in Des Moines at my dad's house. It was nice to see his new apartment and Marta enjoyed the extra space to run around in. On Saturday we went to visit my Gr. Golda who is now living at the Iowa Senior Jewish Living Center. It was bittersweet to see her, as she has lost most of her cognitive functions due to Parkinson's and old age. At times it seemed that she really was able understand and respond to the things we were saying. I thanked her for supporting me through school and said how grateful I was to have the opportunities that she had made available. I told her that I was on my way to New York City to pursue my career and that I didn't think I could have done it without her. She said, "No, I don't believe you could have!" Whether a wry comment or a random answer I will never know, but I'm so glad I got to see her and tell her thanks for being my grandma Golda. On our way out she told my dad, "You don't know how much it means to me."








Later we went to the Science Center of Iowa with Dad, Aunt Barb & Deidre.




Riff's trapped under ice.

Melissa & Dad: a family portrait

Learning about science. Together.

What's inside a girl?

Later that night we went to Barb & Deidre's house. As were were getting ready for a family portrait my step brother Emile called from North Carolina, so we included him in the photo. After the portrait we had just enough time to visit for a bit, play a few exciting rounds of boggle, and then sadly, more goodbyes. It was great to see everyone but much too short of a visit.