What a lovely and bittersweet post, @joanstewart. As we age, we tend to look more back than forward. We gather our family around us, in the knowledge that it is the one thing most precious, that cannot be replaced.

I'm sorry for the loss of your brother who passed away. Was it on his actual birthday? How great that you had time together before that. I tool would travel back to a time with either my parents and four siblings or a time when my three kids were still home, still young, all nestled in the nest, with nothing but family love and daily activities together to be concerned with. Yet I find today a gift. And tomorrow. And each day this life grants me. Hugs to you!