Autumn in Virginia

This blog is dedicated to the memory of Mark Romanak. Mark was married to my cousin Mary DeVries, one of only six cousins that I have on the face of this earth. To be honest with anyone who reads this blog, I only met Mark once at my father's funeral. Mark and Mary had built a home in Greenbackville, Virginia with the intention of retiring to it some day. The night that Mark and Mary got back from spending a week in Virginia, Mark experienced a massive stroke and died soon after. I have corresponded with Mary via email for some time. During the course of our correspondence, she always told me that I needed to see and experience their "Place That Love Built" and to visit "The Road To Paradise". It's because of Mary that Marlene and I visited their home in Virginia during the fall of 2008. As I mentioned earlier in this posting, I only met Mark once. But because of Mary's generosity and encouragement, I believe that I have come to know Mark better through this experience. Visiting their home, the environment, the sea shore and all of the other wonderful things that we did, certainly gave us a deeper understanding of who Mark was and what things he enjoyed doing. Thank you for this gift that you have given us, Mary ... Paul and Marlene DeVries