What are you doing this weekend?

The question has been asked, and I have decided to answer it. We prepared for this weekend by cleaning and heating the guest room. I’d say it really began when John’s cell phone alerted us to a caller. We were sitting in the “cell phone” parking at the Portland airport. Our guests were waiting outside the baggage pickup area of Alaska Airlines. The fellas had conversed several times, but we girls had not seen each other since June 2007 when we were in Alaska for THE wedding.

But, you know, some things never change. After catching up on each other’s kids, grandkids, acquaintances, parents, and news, we settled into sharing life as usual. When I showed her photo- and scrap-books, she stopped on a special page. It was a photo of four very young (and slender) brides. YUP…Joanne, Autumn, Kathy and me..all four of us decked out for hiking. The greatest danger of the entire trek was the rifle our husbands insisted we carry; as I recall we all took a turn carrying it (trepidatiously). The wildest animal contact was the mouse chewing on my hair during the night.

While the menfolk went to get a rental car, we reminisced about threads in the tapestry of our lives. Mike and Kathy took us out to lunch, and it was time to say “Fair thee well.” We plan to see them in a couple of weeks at their daughters wedding. We will probably greet formally in the reception line; there is little hope of time for a REAL visit. They were our guests for fewer than 24 hours, but it was refreshing to have them.

They were gone only a couple of hours when our doorbell rang. Again, it was a “child” from our Alaska days. Not only did he grow up with our kiddos, Rob entered college in Portland just after we moved to this area, and we ended up adopting him along with a few young ladies, one of whom he ended up marrying in our back yard. He had dropped off his older son nearby for a gathering which would take about 3 hours. So, since he was in the neighborhood he dropped by to fill us in on their busy lives. Again, the topics of family, kids, jobs, mother, friends, and loved ones filled the time entirely too quickly.

It has been a good weekend, saying “Hello” to folks we see so seldom. Tomorrow afternoon, we will say “Goodbye” to a dear brother in the Lord. Over the years, we visited Bill in his home. He and the dog would greet us cordially, and he would sit in his recliner with his Bible within reach, always. Long before we met him, he was a public school teacher. We have been told, and we do believe it, that he was a great instructor. No doubt his beloved Aleda Mae will also be mentioned...so many reminders of good folks' love of the Lord and consideration for others.