It's now the end of February 1992. This is quickly becoming a journal of the Shaw family and its activities. Eric is in his college sophomore year, doing well and tentatively decided on pre-med. as a major. Needless to say, we are very proud. He worked at Enchanted Forest during the summer and lived at camp. Being alone, he probably got lonely at times.

Darren has a new girlfriend - Kelly, a freshman this time, but mature for her years and more in tune with Darren than Sara was. He failed to make high honors this last quarter, which was a first for him. He will probably be selected for the National Honor Society, but it will be close. He was appointed as Senior Patrol leader of the scout troop, which pleased us all. He has done a good job and just recently was reviewed for Life rank. If he continues he can also make Eagle. Darren has been driving for over a year now and has his senior driver license. He is a good driver.

In the fall of 91, we continued the tradition of water-skiing in October that was started in '90. Both Eric and Darren participated. Tradition is a good thing.

Eric's college costs have set us back financially. We are no longer able to pay all the bills on our income. This is a new situation for us. Fortunately, before Eric went to college, I took out an Equity loan on Stebbins Drive with a line of credit of $50,000. We are now $17,000 in the hole. Selling one of the houses will cover the college expenses; at least that's the plan.

1991 was a very good year for Utica Mutual. The executive bonus I get in good years from being a company officer was $19,200 this year - the biggest ever. This will reduce the debt that we owe, but we're still going to have a good time with some of it and probably put a new roof and pool liner on Stebbins Drive.

On March 9th of 1991 my father died. Over the last year, I've grown to appreciate who he was - a good father, probably a selfish husband, but that was in part typical of the men of his time, and a good person. He taught us the value of hard work, the value of a family, honesty, commitment and many of the humanistic things I've learned. There are a few older songs that remind me of him - I don't know the names, but they relate to how a child doesn't appreciate his parents until they are gone and inevitably see the same characteristic in their own children. I have fond memories of our fishing trips and the camaraderie that developed. I have tears in my eyes writing this, which can give you an idea of the feelings.

This summer we will begin to do the college search for Darren. We had hoped that he would go to Hamilton. Gloria started working part-time at Hamilton, in the Science library in 1986. As an employee, we would get a 65% discount on tuition, if he does. A lot depends on his success on the SAT's. His grades are good, but not as good as they could be. Raising children is tough. We probably gave them too much. Hindsight is wonderful.