After a long slog out through traffic on Rt. 66 Friday afternoon we arrived at our rental cottage, Lucky River Cottage, near Luray, Virginia. The cabin's deck overlooks a small waterfall. There's no T-mobile signal anywhere in the river valley around us, or in the town. We enjoyed a quiet two nights, nice breakfasts cooked by Cianna's Auntie Kate, and a first visit to Luray Caverns. Cianna is on her full dose of meds, but still having a dozen or so seizures a day. So we'll keep waiting for improvement. With the fam at home, I arrive at Terminal C via taxi to catch a flight to an MIT sponsor event at Cape Cod. I got a voicemail from my brother that someone tried forced entry into my mom's house last night. My mom watches Cianna a couple days a week, so that will make our planning more complex with her freaking out about her bad neighborhood, yet not wanting to move. Such is the life of the sandwich generation.

- mike lee - washington, dc