Wednesday, January 3, 2024
So many great memories of times I was able to spend with my brother-in-law Kevin. I am so blessed to have brothers and sisters in-law that have always treated me as part of the family, which included, of course, being picked-on relentlessly by all the brothers.
Some of the great memories of Kevin and his wonderful family are summer camping trips we made together in upstate New York. One specific memory that is replaying in my head now is a trip to Cayuga Lake State Park. We were there for an annual family gathering hosted at the nearby home of big sister Maureen.
One day, Kevin had the great idea of us heading out for a golf outing at a nearby golf course. We’d leave the wives (Eveline and Denise) at the campsite with 6 toddlers. What more fun for them than chasing toddlers through the woods for several hours! After we finished an incredibly impressive round of golf (that part is embellished), we decided to have a beer at the clubhouse bar, which happened to be in the underground basement where you could hear nothing going on outside. I suspect a beer may have turned into another beer or so. We finally left the bar to head back to the campsite expecting to be greeted with great joy by the family members we had left behind. As we left the bar, we noticed the parking lot was wet, but we did not know that while we were hunkered in the basement bar, that one of the worst downpours of the summer occurred. Back at the campsite, tarps were falling, streams were forming by the tents. Eveline and Denise exercised incredible heroics keeping our young children safe through the storm.
By the time Kevin and I returned to the campsite, the sun had reappeared, and we were happy in our thoughts of treating our families to such a great vacation. As we walked into the campsite, we awaited our families’ hugs and kisses after a hard day of golf. I don’t recall the exact exchange that occurred, but it was something like this:
First, Eveline stopped work on reassembling the camping gear and directed a sort of glare at Kevin. Then Kevin’s reply: “What?”. (That was the wrong reply.)
I’ll miss Kevin so much but will cherish this and many great memories. May his memory be eternal.
George Stephanos
