Well, after enrolling Mary in the last few weeks of school and joining a parish, we were on a roll.  Already, we felt like we belonged here.  We met some of the neighbors and people were friendly and helped us get acclimated.  We found out where the public library was located and went the next Saturday.

The librarian was so nice and helped us get started with new library cards.  Yet again we felt welcomed and from then on we went to the library every Saturday.  I made a list of all the books we took out so we would be able to remember the titles and how many we borrowed.  The children’s books were easily read in a week, so we returned them the following Saturday.  Ollie and I also took books out.  This was encouraged.  We found out that the circulation of library materials determined how much money the library received to buy new books.  So we let the kids take out as many as they wanted.

On Sunday, after church, we went places together.  There were so many places we could go that didn’t cost money.  I would make and pack a lunch and we would choose a destination.  Sometimes it was a beach.  Other times we found interesting historical sites to explore.  It really didn’t matter what we did.   We enjoyed going out as a family and just being together.  It was amazing how many places we could go for free.

Having a routine and knowing that we were going places together made the weekends something fun that we anticipated.  Anticipation is like that.  They were activities we enjoyed all the more because we could count on having family time every weekend.  This was important because we were far away from friends and family back home in Indiana.  California was where we lived now.  And we would be finding our place in this new community.  We had begun to make a good start in this endeavor.  Duarte was our home now.