A Short Fifty

We are home! We left Mom on Thursday, very early in the morning. We had a prayer in our hearts that the early hour would improve our chances of getting on the consistently full flights that plague stand-by fliers like ourselves. I'm trying to make my prayers more specific so I specifically asked the Lord to bless us with a speedy trip home. It usually takes us all day to get home because of so many full flights. But Thursday was different. We caught that early flight out of Grand Junction into Denver. Then we spotted an open flight into Phoenix that also provided an open flight into San Francisco. We went for it. As soon as we arrived in Phoenix we were boarded onto a flight for SF. Wow! We arrived at the San Francisco Airport by noon. That is a record for us! We were home by 1:30. Was it serendipity or the Lord's blessing? I'm giving the Lord all the credit for answering my specific prayer.

A friend, D'Ann Downey, has been staying at our house during our absence. She greeted us with her velvety conversation and we have been engaged in bonding with her ever since. It looks like she will be with us until we leave to bring Mom home next month. D'Ann is now living in Europe and will return as soon as she has the funds. That is the tricky part. But she will be gone from here by the 9th, when we leave to get Mom. She is bright, good hearted and a great walking partner.

Sometimes I am amazed at how old I am now. Saturday night was my 50th High School reunion! I've been planning on attending for months now but when it was time to go I felt a bit hesitant. I wasn't the best known girl in school. I looked through my yearbook and must admit to not knowing most of my class. I was afraid of not recognizing or knowing anyone there. But Layne agreed to go with me and encouraged me, so, with some butterflies in my stomach, we went. Wow, I met up with friends right from the start. 50 years melted away as I saw and recognized lots of my school mates. It was such fun! I was especially happy to be able to spend lots of time with my childhood best friend (Carolyn McLaughlin). 200 of our 500+ class showed up. I felt embraced by so many, and I recognized far more classmates that I imagined I would. I guess it just goes to show that pushing through fear and nerves is often a very good thing.