Guy and Belva

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Lisa writes: I've never figured out Tom's family tree, but most of the relatives I've met seem to be related to him through his grandfather (so, 2nd cousins?).

Guy and Belva are some of those. Sweet, sweet people who live on a beautiful country hillside outside of Schenectady, New York. They're retired and the kids are grown, so they've gardened and sewn and tapped maple trees and mowed hay and done wood-working. Bel cans her own jam and makes homemade English muffins; Guy built their house from scratch. We usually stop to visit them on the way home from Blue Mountain, often staying for dinner, sometimes staying the night.

We found out at Blue that Bel had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, on top of the degenerative spinal condition she's had for years that has forced her to walk with two canes and now a walker. She likes to put on a spread for visitors, but Guy knew she really wasn't up for it. So, after some family strategizing, it was determined that we would "decide to drop by at the last minute" on the way home.

Guy's sister, Mary, met us there and we had juice and talked and the kids ran around the property. Bel remembered all of us, but asked Tom and me "How old is he?" each time she saw James. We answered each time, and she was delighted each time.

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