Endings and Beginnings

I love the way the world works. You just never know what your day is going to bring. Today the news that came my way was varied.

Bill called me at work this morning to say that his mother had taken a turn for the worse in the nursing home in PA and that he was leaving to travel up there again to check on her and his sisters. She may not make it through the weekend.

The second call I received later in the afternoon was from Austin to say that Colleen was in Fredericksburg with her mother, sister and maid-of-honor looking at wedding venues for next summer. They are ready to make a commitment to a date.

Endings and beginnings...thank goodness...we are blessed with both and each has its important place in our lives.

Change

It's been a long time since a post and that's because of CHANGE. My brain can only handle so much of it at a time. Change makes me think and react and stay on-task round the clock.

I guess most of the change has to do with Ellie being back on this side of the Atlantic. But it also has to do with Bill's healing which is now taking place at a great rapid pace. He is working out at the Wellness Center again and, today, he actually played golf, alone and in the rain, but he was exhilarated by the time we connected back at home.

Here's the big news, as of tomorrow, Bill and I celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary on August 19. We have grown through many changes in those years. Some with much finesse and smoothness and others with, well, tentativeness (to make it sound like the high road). Nonetheless, we are celebrating all 22 years and our current happiness with life. Cheers to us!

Peaches

When I was a little girl, my sister and I would visit our great aunt in Chattanooga during the heat of the summer. Aunt Judy would take us anywhere we wanted to go, including the park, the drive-in burger joint, the movies, and on and on.

The most familiar scent I remember from those deep south summers was the smell of peaches riding along with us in the heat of Aunt Judy's Buick. She always seemed to have peaches in the car from a friend or a stand. These were not the small to medium peaches we typically get in the Shenandoah Valley today. Giant, juicy Georgia peaches rode with us, usually in a brown paper bag. Were they giant or was I just small? At any rate, as we jumped in the baking car, hot peaches would waft through the air. I remember feeling comforted by the pungent air, excited to see where our next adventure would take us.

Today one of my favorite summertime activities is peeling peaches standing at my kitchen sink. Of course, I am always reminded of Aunt Judy's hot peach car, but also because peeling peaches is a deliberate, focused task. There is no way to hurry. If you choose to peel too soon, you're stuck with no juicy, meaty fruit. If you choose the perfect peach to peel, the skin slides right off between your knife and your thumb. Peeling is a good time to slow down and think and smell and breathe....peaches.

Homecoming

Ellie in Edinburgh

She's back! After an hour delay arriving at the Richmond airport, we were able to welcome Ellie back into our arms. Whew! For her, it was almost 3:00 in the morning, but she entertained us all the way home with story after story of her adventures. The sound of her voice and laughter was like honey pouring into my ears.

Around midnight, we all went to bed. I could hardly wait to get up and listen and look all over again. Over coffee this morning, she shared her hundreds of photos with more stories. Then she blessed us with the readings of two poems she had written for her class during the last five weeks. We loved hearing her voice interpret each one the way only an author is capable of sharing her works.

We're celebrating our reunion and enjoying each others company with much gratitude. As Bill is fond of saying, "Ain't life grand?"

Embarrassment

Ellie Delivering Her Final Piece

Well, I embarrassed myself today. Ellie is 'scot' free over in Scotland and about to travel on her own for the next day or so. We hadn't heard from her and weren't sure exactly where she was to be. From Edinburgh, she had a plan to take the train to Wales to meet up with her friend, Erin, at a youth hostel and then on to London and Heathrow to fly home Thursday.

When we hadn't heard from her by mid-afternoon ( early evening for her), I wondered why. The more I wondered, the more I began to become anxious and boarding on panic by the time I got home and Bill still hadn't heard anything. Our deal was that she would contact us daily whilst on the road. We did know that she was spending a certain amount of time at her friend, Amy's apartment in Edinburgh.

Yes, I panicked. What would you do, Mothers? By the time I took a chill pill, she called and Bill was carrying on a conversation about visiting art galleries all around Edinburgh (without her cell phone). I felt foolish. Oh, Bly.

Tomorrow she is traveling alone by train from Edinburgh to Wales to locate Erin at a youth hostel somewhere in the wilds. Lord, give me strength to make it through tomorrow, anxiety-free and to trust her instincts and better judgment along the way. I can do this!

Congrats to Corinna

Corinna with her Ginger

A heartfelt congratulations to Corinna for landing a job after many months of unemployment. Not just any job, a job she really wanted and is looking forward to having. Hopefully, Mad Genius will take off and its associate producer will too!

Well done, You!

Shake a Leg

It's time for Bill to pull out his pizza hat and begin to enjoy retirement. We had a marvelous trip in celebration the last of May, but since then he has been ill with pneumonia. His energy level is zip. This is NOT the way God meant for retirement to be!

Then, again, I think he is recovering from 25 years with Nielsen, 15 of which he was the Chief Operations Officer and his stress load was over the top. Perhaps, this is the way he had to recuperate---sick. He has a list of projects he wants to start. And, of course, I have a list of projects for him to start. But, it just isn't meant to be YET.

He has played 10,000 games of solitaire on his iPhone beginning in London and continuing daily. He has done the daily crossword without fail. He is trying to mend through rest and relaxation. Soon, it will be time for him to don his pizza hat that Ellie gave him for Christmas and shake a leg!