Mr. Pat and I were thankfully able to miss the snowstorms, both here and in Ohio, as we traveled to Cleveland on January 9 and flew back home a week later. We had gone for medical reasons and stayed a few days longer in order to spend some time with his family there.
Driving a rental car is always a grand experience. What better way to recognize that your vehicles back home have fewer bells and whistles or are older than you think?!? Aside from missing several turns and paying tolls twice because we had to backtrack, we made it to Pat’s sister’s home in time for a late lunch. Again, thankfully we had ample time that afternoon and evening to relax, check the weather, and plan for our trip into Cleveland the next morning. Because … a commute in rush hour traffic with snow coming down is not a whole lot of fun. This time, thankfully, we had no missed turns. Found the parking garage without a hitch. Easily found the skywalk which took us straight to where we were headed. And there were bathrooms everywhere we turned around, it seemed! We had good visits with medical specialists that day. We had great visits with family all week. We looked through items his mother had saved through the years. School records, artwork, and 4-H ribbons. We made photocopies for genealogy purposes. Family photos, saved funeral folders, and newspaper clippings. And we reminded ourselves of common family traits. We had a most delightful flight from Cleveland to St. Louis. Within a few minutes, we learned that Doris, sharing our side of the aisle, had been a nurse and volunteered for the Red Cross, had gone back to school for her masters in nursing when she was 40-something, had worked at Cleveland Clinic during that time, then taught classes related to caregiving for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Mr. Pat had also been a Red Cross instructor. I had gone back to school for my masters when I was 40. She has been the organist and choir director for their Lutheran church for 50+ years. And then Pat shared with her why we had come to Ohio. To hear good news. I don’t think it is a coincidence that Doris sat with us on that flight. Thanks, God, for all goodness. Grace and peace … --Pastor Pat
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