One Dead Deer and Grandpa (on a Living Man's Chest)

The reunion was okay; Monticello is surprising far away. The highlights (or lowlights) were hitting a deer and dedicating a headstone. Hitting the deer was awful. Luckily I was not the driver, one of Paul's cousins was. Unfortunately, he hit the deer too softly. I had not considered that one could hit a deer too softly, but indeed one can. The poor creature was very scared and trapped under the car. Another relative was able to get the car off the deer, but it was soon apparent that its back was broken near the hindquarters. This caused a serious dilemma, both morally and practically. Morally, it seemed wrong to let the deer die a slow and painful death. Pratically, a dead/dying deer is a real road hazard. Fortunately, a police officer stopped to help. He shot the deer and moved it off the road, thus ending the scene. (The car sustained no damage--don't asked me how--and no one was hurt, so everyone continued on their way.) The other highlight was the family program at the Monticello cemetary, where Paul's grandfather is buried. The family history was somewhat puzzling in nature (how does one appear on the 1930 census--twice, but that's another story--while on a mission?), but it was very nice to learn more about the Muhlestein family. Paul's grandmother also reminded to her children about the importance of walking the straight and narrow path.