I'm sortof excited to finally hear from my cousin Jeffery, the son of my Uncle Fred, my dad's little brother who killed himself a couple of days ago. Since Fred wanted nothing to do with Jeffery and had absolutely no contact with him, it was really impossible for us to try to find him until now. I lost an Uncle but gained a Cousin. Funny how things work out that way. I talked with him on the phone. Apparantly he shares Fred's fondness for kissing people on the nose, and is into frisbee golf and hang gliding. He's going to school at Berkely to learn more about public policy. He's part of a dying breed of Americans who believes that government can still affect positive social change.

My sister is in California with my dad. They're making sure he doesn't crack up while he's out there, and Heather, my little sister by 3 years, is the only one in our family whose up for that kind of job. I got the job of holding down the fort and taking care of Bruno, my darling 4 year old Boxer dog. I watched TV with my mom for a while today. We watched the HBO Movie "Dinner with Friends" and another movie. She was really jumpy, running to the phone when it rang to confirm family arrivals in Oakland for the funeral tomorrow. I don't think she payed much attention to the TV, she's too wrapped up in our current family drama, of which we have an overabundance.