Trip to Tennessee
The next major event of the summer was a trip I took to Tennessee with my best girl friend. It was a very last minute trip and just amazing to see how God brought everything together. My friend's Dad passed away a little over two months ago, and her widowed mother lives in TN. Not too long ago, she found out that the landlady has sold the house she is currently living in and renting. It was a double whammy for her. She was not ready yet emotionally to sort through everything in order to move. My friend was going down to TN to help her mother go through things, but knew it was more than a one person job, so she asked me if I could go down with her. There were numerous obstacles--my vacation time is used up and I couldn't afford time off without pay, would my boss allow me to leave, how was I going to do all that needed to be done to help Erika get ready to leave for college? Well, the Lord overcame every obstacle in a matter of days. The Lord provided the amount of money I would be missing in pay, the boss said I could go, and I was able to get all of Erika's sorting, cleaning, laundry, ironing, shopping, and so on done before I left.
So, we left for TN on a Monday morning after she got her children off to camp (that's why we had to go that week), and we began a 9 hour journey that took 12 (alot of road work and we didn't rush our break stops). We had a great trip both down and back. There is a series of books called Sister Chicks about close girl friends like we are, so we took turns reading one of those aloud as the other drove. We listened to alot of music. We talked alot, laughed alot, and had both serious and silly moments. One of the silly moments was when Arlene said you're supposed to hold your breath going through a tunnel. Well, Miss Asthmatic only held her breath a few seconds. I kept holding my breath and holding my breath. The tunnel went on and on and on, and I was running out of O2 and there was no light at the end of the tunnel! Finally I gave up and gasped for breath, and after a few deep breaths suddenly became extremely dizzy. The bad part? I was the driver!! Arlene laughed so hard she couldn't breathe.
We worked long hard tiring hours in TN sorting through a basement's worth and a lifetime's worth of accumulated boxes. We sorted into piles for give away, throw away, sell, and keep. Doris, Arlene's mom, had to work every day but one, so she would come home weary and have to deal with me holding things in front of her face saying, "Keep? Throw? Sell?" She was a real trooper and God gave her great strength to make hard decisions. There were some emotional moments, but she did really well. Sadly, Arlene was under the weather quite a bit, so she was on photo sorting and copying duty. She's making a scrapbook about her dad's life. God also strengthened my back as I moved 100's of boxes, most of them more than once.
On day 1 it looked like an impossible task. By departure day, she had a neat row of boxes to keep, several neat rows of boxes of items to sell, several truck loads had gone to the dump, and the basement portion of the job was done! Only by the strength from the Lord!
The return trip was probably a whole lot less silliness and alot more serious conversation as we were physically weary.
So, we left for TN on a Monday morning after she got her children off to camp (that's why we had to go that week), and we began a 9 hour journey that took 12 (alot of road work and we didn't rush our break stops). We had a great trip both down and back. There is a series of books called Sister Chicks about close girl friends like we are, so we took turns reading one of those aloud as the other drove. We listened to alot of music. We talked alot, laughed alot, and had both serious and silly moments. One of the silly moments was when Arlene said you're supposed to hold your breath going through a tunnel. Well, Miss Asthmatic only held her breath a few seconds. I kept holding my breath and holding my breath. The tunnel went on and on and on, and I was running out of O2 and there was no light at the end of the tunnel! Finally I gave up and gasped for breath, and after a few deep breaths suddenly became extremely dizzy. The bad part? I was the driver!! Arlene laughed so hard she couldn't breathe.
We worked long hard tiring hours in TN sorting through a basement's worth and a lifetime's worth of accumulated boxes. We sorted into piles for give away, throw away, sell, and keep. Doris, Arlene's mom, had to work every day but one, so she would come home weary and have to deal with me holding things in front of her face saying, "Keep? Throw? Sell?" She was a real trooper and God gave her great strength to make hard decisions. There were some emotional moments, but she did really well. Sadly, Arlene was under the weather quite a bit, so she was on photo sorting and copying duty. She's making a scrapbook about her dad's life. God also strengthened my back as I moved 100's of boxes, most of them more than once.
On day 1 it looked like an impossible task. By departure day, she had a neat row of boxes to keep, several neat rows of boxes of items to sell, several truck loads had gone to the dump, and the basement portion of the job was done! Only by the strength from the Lord!
The return trip was probably a whole lot less silliness and alot more serious conversation as we were physically weary.
posted by Dusty Penguin | 6:42 PM
8 Comments:
Woo Hoo !! Road trip !!! I love road trips. ! I love other peoples junk. We got all of our skis from someones pile close to your house.
I've been waiting ages for you to post again - - - now if only Dad would pick up the pen !!
Wow. I log on to your blog site and see a whole column about our trip together, but Not A Word, Nothing, NADA about the time you were crowding cars off the road and running down little old ladies so you could get to the rest area in time... CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!!!
Come on, tell the truth. Your family and friends deserve to know the real you, the one that shines when you're under pressure, the one that mows people over when you have an urgent need... ;)
Thank you again for all of your hard work and the wonderful memories we made together. I don't think I have laughed so much at one time in my whole life before this trip. If laughter is the best medicine, we should be the healthiest people in the world for a while!
Bear Hugs!
love you mum!
Well...now that you've told on me!! I had to go to the bathroom before we stopped for gas at a dinky, dank, disgusting little gas station, so I didn't go there. Then we ended up in miles and miles of stop and go (more stop than go) bumper to bumper traffic for hours, and then I had to go even worse. Then there were no exits. So by the time I saw a rest area sign, my bladder was about to burst. And people just wouldn't get out of my way! First I had to drive halfway around the rest area to get to where the cars park, then somebody mosies as slowly as possible across the road in front of me, then when I get to a parking spot, the car next to it sits there with his door open into my spot. I was a very unhappy person. You can't exactly cross your legs when you're the driver! So, when I got out of the car, I mowed everyone down in my path to get to the bathroom. I thought Arlene was going to die laughing.
Reminds me of a trip I made with my best friend . . . from Chicago to Chattanooga, by way of Cincinnati because we weren't too bright, to watch a basketball tournament back around 1985. One of my favorite memories.
How old is Lannie's niece and the other little girl that they're going to try to adopt? Do you know how long of a process it will be for them?
Laura
Laura, Dean has a picture of them on his blogspot (Chinglishman) and they look like maybe 8 year olds?
I definitely saw the picture of the girls; hard for me to judge ages. I didn't know if because Lannie is Chinese if that would help hasten the adoption process. I admire them for trying for them both!
Boy, are you going to have empty nest syndrome now?
Laura
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