I am exhausted, but happily so.
This afternoon, my nephew Bob Ripley from California
stopped by for lunch. He had come all
the way from his home near Sacramento for the memorial service of a classmate
and good friend, Lawrence Behlert. I
kept feeling like pinching myself, it seemed so incredible that Bob was really
sitting across from me. It was hard to
let him go. I stood at the door and
waved until he was out of sight.
Even before he had stood up to make his good byes,
daughter-of-my-heart Leslie Adams was at the door. We had a lovely visit. Leslie is a nurse, so she had a few words of
caution to give about the upcoming surgery.
Elsa wasn’t home during Leslie’s visit. She was off representing the Lockharts at
Lawrence’s service. She brought home an
audio tape. It made my heart stop to
hear Tommy Rose opening the Word. An
Alden Roader! Elsa said that Tommy's
talk made the cathedral feel as if was a side yard on Alden Road, with a
whiffle ball game in progress. She ran
through what seemed like a litany of Alden Roaders from the late '50s/early
'60s who were there - Johnny and Janis Peck, Debbie Heldon, Marty and Diana
DeCharms, Sig Soneson, Lew & Effie Grubb, Diana Echols, Annette Henderson,
Lark Pitcairn, Braden Bostock. (Bob R.,
who attended high school in our hometown, counts as an honorary Alden Roader,
based on his many stays at our house.)
If Tommy's talk is typical of what our NC ministers deliver these days,
our church is in very good and loving hands.
It was warm, real and unforgettable.
Around eight-ish, I thought the days events were over,
then the phone ran. Elsa handed it to me with sparkle in her
eyes. I was hornswoggled to hear Carolyn
Heldon on the line - all the way from Australia! Between the three of us, we must have talked
for well nigh an hour. She sounded like
she was next door, rather than a world away.
Thank you, Carolyn, granddaughter-of-this-delighted-grandma's heart!
My love to you all. It is time to "go up the wooden
hill" & so to bed ~ Grammie Kay
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