Days 47, 48 & 49, March 13, 14 15 - Winston-Salem, NC

 Nothing beats spending time with my daughter Kate and my 4 grandchildren outside Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  Only problem is that time spent here goes so dang fast.  Good thing:  I'll be back this way come October.  We had a lovely visit:  playing games with her folks, visiting the outstanding gardens at Reynolda of Wake Forest University, and taking the two young girls to the trampoline park. 








Three amazing things:  1- That a woman could be as blessed as me to have Kate in my life and her 4 children is a gift I simply cannot account for.  Grandchildren are indeed one of the richest rewards of life.  The Lord expands our hearts and our capacity to love.  2- Spring is around the corner, and my hearts sings with the blooms and the colors and the luscious smells.  3- The human body and the capacity we have (especially young people) to flex, spring, rebound, and repair is miraculous.  My father used to say that he'd look in the mirror to see an elderly stranger whom his young soul hardly recognized.  While this is all too true, it is just as true that aging is a gift LaVonne and Bryan were not blessed to enjoy as I am.  

Good deed:  We try to serve Kate as much as possible when we visit:  we pay for groceries and gas and activities, run errands or help carpool kids, and it is my privilege to vac, sweep and mop her floors.  But Aaron went above and beyond tonight.  While I ran Megan to an appointment, Kate ran Robby to swim.  While at the YMCA, Kate discovered she had a flat, whereupon she grabbed the spare which was also flat.  Being the resourceful woman she is, she pulled out the compressor and was ever so slowly filling the spare when out of nowhere appeared several men all too willing to lend a hand.  One grabbed the spare and took it to his brother's house down the road to fill while others removed the flat.  In no time, they had her back on the road.  But Aaron was able to retrieve the nail from the tire, patch the hole, and reinstall a repaired tire.  He's Kate's hero now as well as mine.


I ran to the store while Aaron repaired the tire and experienced a rather nasty flashback to the time about twelve years ago when I was overwhelmed by grief and loneliness.  Bryan had passed, and being by myself was more uncomfortable and anxiety laden than I could handle.  The moment quickly passed and I thanked the Lord for my wonderful companion.  There is comfort and peace, security and joy in this sweet marriage of mine.  

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