Summer is here! Okay, the season of summer is weeks away, but for me, summer has always launched with Memorial Day.

What marks summer for many of us is the end of school, summer vacation and lazy days. I don’t know what your summer plans are, but we all should have some.

Do you remember having to write reports on what I did on my summer vacation? Every year mine was the same thing with a different teacher: “I swam, played and visited relatives in Pennsylvania.”

The annual migration “back home” was a two week visit with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We always made base camp my Grandfather Batchelet’s place and did a lot of day trips from there.

I miss those days, both for their simplicity and for the people I can no longer go and see. I also regret that I didn’t spend more time with the adults. It is sad that the ones I would like to sit down with now were of the least interest to me then. There is a dwindling list of aunts and uncles and it is so easy to let time and opportunity pass by.

How many of us at funerals say, “we need to get together more often?” Don’t let the fall come without checking in on family far away or near at hand. Summer is here and August or September will be here before you know, so do something for yourself or someone you love.

Happy summer.