Happy Birthday Ted

I went to Aiken today to see Dad. He turns 82 tomorrow, 1/22. I brought him a new cell phone that Monna and I got for him. He looks good. I forgot to take his picture. Sorry. I talked to him on his new phone tonight.

They have a great trip coming up. They are flying to New Zealand and then taking a cruise from there to several important WWII sites including Guam. Dad spent 18 months on Guam during WWII. They end up in Osaka, Japan after a month on the ship. Then back to Atlanta.

We don't hear much from the Wilson side of the family. One piece of news is that David and Joan left Jan 15th on an around the world cruise. They will be on a ship for four months! Maybe one day, we'll get a post from them.

I want to travel like that 30 years from now! Travel is in our blood!

Dad talked a little about how Grandma crossed the river from Canada (Emo) to Baudette, Minnesota to give birth to him. Thus, he would be born an American citizen. She and Herb (Dad's dad) were English subjects at the time. Herb was working for the Canadian National Railroad in Baudette, but living in Canada. The parallels to immigration today cannot be ignored. Although, we would like to make distinctions, I think we should concentrate and celebrate the similarities. Ultimately, our family of immigrants has made and continues to make positive contributions to the country. Millions of past and future immigrants have and will make positives contributions to the country. The American dream is still the American dream and should be open to everyone. But, I am a really really liberal on the immigration issue. Surprise. Surprise.