WHAT LIES AHEAD ?

Heidi's mother, Virginia, was a "Crosby" and her mother, in turn, was a "Bent", both old Nova Scotia family names with local ancestral roots stretching back into the eighteenth century.  In her ongoing and sporadic genealogical research, Heidi has managed to outline a basic lineage of both families but has long hoped to expand her understanding of this particular branch of her family tree.

What better excuse to travel to Canada's eastern seaboard can one imagine?  And so we're off for a couple of weeks to search out whatever family history we can uncover and, perhaps not just so parenthetically, to enjoy lots of autumn foliage along the way.

Our journey, however, will commence with something of a side trip to Washington, DC, to help mark the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, primarily with other members of Thailand VI, Lee's group of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) volunteers who were assigned to various Thai schools for two (or in Lee's case, three) years beginning some forty-eight (!) years ago.

This marks the third reunion held over the years since the group's return to "civilian life", providing yet another opportunity to see how things have worked out over the years.  We will also have a chance to visit with other RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) from Heidi's Thailand VIII group and from our days at Stanford -- and to attend a dinner reception at the Royal Thai Embassy!

Along the road we'll also have the chance to spend time with Heidi's sister, Liz, and husband, Steve, in Reston, Virginia; her brother, Kenneth, and wife, Janet, in Addison, Maine; and Heidi's ninety-something Aunt Free in Exeter, NH.

We'll even manage a short visit with Dianne Hobbs, a longtime friend now living in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Altogether we'll be gone three weeks and immersed much of the time in attempts to (re)capture memories of times past.  It should prove an interesting set of experiences and an extended opportunity to reflect on the influences of history on the present.

FROM SHAKER HEIGHTS TO CAPE BRETON AND POINTS BETWEEN