The following narrative is dedicated to my Father-in-law, a marathoner and the only person who complained that my e-mail account of the Mississippi race was too short.  The text was extracted and adapted for a general audience from a 28 April 2002 letter to my sister, Mary Westhoff, currently serving as a missionary in the California Long Beach mission. 

For those of you keeping track, Ray and I will be flying to Washington this weekend on a house-hunting trip. Ray's Mom will be flying in to help with the kids while we are gone.