With relatives and friends, I have been enjoying the attractions of the Galveston, TX, area since the 1960s. More recently, my wife, Frances, and I have many times gone there, particularly late in the fall, for welcome romantic interludes and off-season recreation. Here or within about an hour's drive and ferry ride may be found abundant seafood restaurants, convenient jetties or sandy beaches along the island's seawall, parks, estuaries, thousands of acres of marshland, a waterfowl sanctuary, boardwalks for observing the many interesting examples of shore life, museums, a butterfly exhibit, an excellent aquarium, ferry rides, a safari-type exotic wildlife ranch, canoeing or airboat opportunities, a fishermen's wharf, an open expanse for kite flying, and numerous shops catering to tourists. Unfortunately, for me not all associations with the barrier island have been pleasant. I used to go there with my brother, Ralph, his wife, Mary, and their young son, Jim. We'd have fun times with beach hikes, building sand castles, and wading or swimming in the usually gentle surf. Frances and I also would take our much cherished dog, Pepper, both as a tiny puppy and on several occasions thereafter. With an excess of playful energy, she would run in joyful abandon along the wet sand next to the ocean, taking in all the seashore sights or smells, exhilarating in her own vitality. But both Ralph and Pepper too soon were cut down by cancer, and the latest time I was in the region with each of them was marked by tenderness. I was aware they were having their final experiences of the place. Ralph died in 1990, just after his 38th birthday. Still evidently enjoying all the fresh odors and new observations as she slowly plodded along, too weak by then to go more than a few yards at a time, Pepper had her last trip to Galveston in late 2003 and died a couple weeks after our return.

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