Betsy Bailey

Who or what do you really love?

Since it goes without saying that I love, love, love my family and friends. (But there I said it anyway for the official Valentine's Day record.

So I thought I would talk today about something else I really love:

I love Phoenix in February!!

(And most all the other winter months here, too.)

In my Hometown, Ohio right now it is 18F (feels like 9F) and a projected high of 22. It looks something like this:

Hometown, Ohio, February 13

Here in Phoenix it is currently 52F with a projected high of 66. Brr. A little chilly. A photo from a South Mountain hike last January:

Winter in Phoenix

I'm so glad I moved here! All this gorgeous sunshine AND the love of my life.

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The trip back to Ohio for my grandmother's funeral was uneventful. Those flights East and back are long and never very fun, but the weather was mild and our flights were direct, so the trip went about as smoothly as it ever can. (We had some silly delays all over the place, but nothing too traumatizing…)

The funeral was difficult. I spent a lot of my childhood with my grandparents, and had an especially close bond with my grandmother. I have them to thank for so many wonderful memories. As I expected, though, the emotional impact of losing my grandma didn't really hit me until I was at the funeral home.

Granddad and me

Seeing my grandfather, without Grandma at his side, was the first emotional whammy. They had been married for over 61 years and, from what I saw of them, they were happy, loving years. They always seemed so companionable and easy around each other. I can only imagine the void her loss has created for Granddad. It's heartbreaking to think about.

The second difficult emotional moment, of course, was seeing Grandma. She looked so peaceful – at rest – as if she would just wake up at any moment. I miss her. There's a lot I had been saving up to talk with her about – I kept putting off calling her – and now I never can.

While the occasion was a sad one, I did enjoy spending a little time with my family. With my sister in Pennsylvania, my brother in NE Ohio and me in Arizona, it's a rare treat when we are all three together at the same time. Alas, we didn't get any pictures of the three of us together. I need to get better about thinking of stuff like that.

I also saw extended family whom I haven't seen in years and years and years – some not since childhood, and even a few I'd never met or was too young to remember when I did. It was neat to reconnect and catch up a little. I do wish we had coordinated a family reunion like this before Grandma died, but I guess we take for granted that there will always be time to do it.

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Scott and me

This one is for my dad-in-law who said the only thing missing here is pic of Scott and me. It just so happens that my brother took one of us when we were in Ohio earlier this week that turned out… okay.

We were having lunch at Applebee's in Chillicothe. It's appropriate that the Ohio State memorabilia features so prominently in this photo because let me tell you they are in a FRENZY there gearing up for the national championship game (to be played right here in AZ of course .

Having lived in the area most of my life and being Ohio State alumnus (Class of 1991) myself, I wasn't at ALL surprised. I think Scott found it all very curious, though – this level of insanity. The plane on the way home yesterday was PACKED with fans headed to Phoenix for the game next week. And since one of the flight attendants was a Buckeye fan, we were treated to some Ohio chants and marching band music from TBDBITL over the PA system. What fun!

Also news crews are starting to head out here. We boarded the plane and, as I watched a man walking to his seat in the row directly behind us, I thought to myself: "That guy looks a lot like Jerry Revish [evening news co-anchor, Channel 10, Eyewitness News]. Nah. He'd surely be in first class, right?" So I dismissed that idea.

Then about 5 minutes later, his co-anchor Andrea Cambern walks up the aisle and takes her seat next to him.

I was a little geeked about it, I have to admit. It was fun to listen to them talk shop a bit.

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