Keeping a Promise

We had to talk Mom into coming home with us last October. We promised her that if she would spend the winter with us in California, we would take her home to Colorado for the summer. Our promise should have been fulfilled before now, but she broke her hip, which put off the move. After spending almost a week with her at our home, we packed up and drove her home to Colorado, using her red Envoy to transport us. Mom sat in the front seat with Layne and I was relegated to the back seat. We started out early on last Friday morning and drove to Reno, where we lunched with one of our Mongolian daughters, Bayaraa, and her husband Ryan Hopkins, and their two little sons. It was a sweet pleasure to see one of our girls so happy!

We arrived in Salt Lake late Friday night and went to son Gerald's home in Draper to spend the night. Gerald and his wife Frances have two homes in Draper. One is rented out but the other is empty; fully stocked and saved for their visits to the States. Right now no one is there, so we enjoyed a large, empty but fully stocked home for the night. It was way better than a motel! Except that we had to maneuver mom up several stairs in her wheel-chair. That took some doing but we managed it. The accompanying picture shows Mom in her car, in Gerald's garage. She looks pretty good for 11:00 at night, don't you think?

What I must say about Gerald and Frances' home is that they have an amazing "theater" room in the basement. It was created for them by a very artistic contractor who wanted to practice his art before offering it to the general public. So they got a deal on the project. In the accompanying picture you can see the front of the room, where a projection TV will focus it's images on a screen, lowered over the scene you see here. The whole room is like a step into the red rock country, complete with a tree in one corner. He created it all out of concrete. Wow! I've never seen anything like it, especially in a home. Wouldn't it be fun to create something like that in your home space? I'm thinking about that.

On Saturday, after a brief visit with my sister Maryanne and her husband Bob, we drove to Cedaredge, arriving in the afternoon. Walking into her home felt so natural; like we were gone only to the store or on a short drive. Her place has never looked better. It is clean and straight, and the yard is beautiful. There is a special feeling about this place. I'm sure it has nothing to do with my own sentiments. It is a nurturing place. I'm happy to be here. Layne and Mom are too! And so, at last, our promise is kept. We are home.