I'll fly away, again.

In a rare turn of events I am wrapping up my second trip for the summer, and June isn't even over. Rarely do I take summer trips but this year two special opportunities came my way. As you know earlier this month I traveled with friends on a bucket list trip, a cruise through Eastern Canada and New England. Now I am sitting in perhaps my favorite airport preparing to return home.  I am in the little Yakima WA Airport which boast 2 commercial flights a day. Yakima is the home of my dear friend Sue.

I shared here in November of my trip to Yakima to see Sue who suffered an aneurysm a year ago.  At the time she resided in a care facility.  Sue had just buried her husband of 52 years and was fighting to regain her ability to walk and talk. Shortly after my visit, with a team of friends and family rallying around her she moved home. She has been working really hard the past 6 months. And this past week I have stood in amazement as I got to stay with her. Various family and friends have been staying with Sue. There was a gap and I was asked if I wanted to come. I jumped at the chance! God provided a ticket and last Friday night I flew out. One of Sue's local friends/PT's/ encourages, Ruth picked me up from my midnight arrival.  Ruth and I crossed paths 30 years ago and it was fun to briefly catch up. It was a sweet reunion when Sue and I met at the breakfast table the next day. Sue walks amazingly well with and without walking device. She has regained much of her independence. However it was nice to be able to help her with things. Much of the time we sat in the living room talking or just smiling at each other. Yes I did a lot of the talking but then it's always been that way. A lot of time was spent eating or talking about what we would eat. There were two Costco runs, one just to have another hot dog lunch. We attended services at her church, which I always love attending. I did some putzing in Sue's yard pulling some weeds and deadheading some bushes.

Sue's brother Tony turned 78 and we joined his daughter and a bunch of grandkids at DQ for a lively and sweet celebration.  Tony is a great cook and huge member of Sue's support team. He was over several times with food, yard assistance and to join in the nightly Wheel of Fortune  and Jeopardy viewing. The last day we picked up from the airport Mary Beth whom I met when I came in November.  She will be here the next couple of weeks. It was fun to catch up with her.

It has been such a sweet visit. I am so grateful for the time with my dear friend. It was a privilege to give to her in a small way. Yet as always I received much more in return simply being with her.

Home

This is the post I wrote on my way home from the cruise. Evidently I got distracted and never finished it. I will wrap it up and send it along today, Almost two weeks later.

The cruise was fun but now it's done. It is Saturday evening and Im in the Dulles Washington airport waiting to fly to Atlanta. The ship docked in Boston's harbor early this morning(Saturday June 8th) where I took a bus to the airport. I was able to get my flight changed to an earlier one so I will make it home to sleep in my bed. ( And I did!)

Picking up where I left off, Thursday found us in Halifax Nova Scotia . I had considered not getting off the ship because I was tired and had no specific attraction awaiting. But with a beautiful day appearing on a picturesque seaport town, I ventured in. A highlight was a public garden in bloom.  Friday's highly anticipated Bar Harbor visit was deflated by wet, cold, rain and fog. We did take Oli's Trolley through Acadia National Park. The guide was fun and informative but the view was dampened. We chose not to linger long and returned to free food and warmth on the ship. Did I mention instead of the usual gangplank we were ferried to shore by tender (lifeboats!) 

We finished our cruise with a meal in the dining room that featured the kitchen staff's farewell walk and some "rock and rolling." This is where I say thank God for Bonine anti-nausia meds and patches. We felt the boat swaying only the last couple of days since the early part of the trip was not in open water. 

I am grateful for this opportunity. I enjoy my travel companions and we saw and experienced some great things. It was nice to step back from the normal pace and responsibilities. I enjoyed being waited on and the bounty of food to experience. 

I did realize that although one can remove herself from routine and responsiblity, she can't remove herself from herself. It was an introspective week and i'm grateful for things that I discovered about myself. It is my desire to be more confident in who I am, my wants and desires, and to stand up and use my voice based on those things. Incidents during the trip made me realize my tendency to be a follower and as the week progressed I worked on taking the initiative to do things that I really wanted to. I thoroughly enjoyed my traveling companions and hope that perhaps in the future, we can do something like it again.

I have over three hundred pictures but I will try to just share a few here. Some day there may be a photo album with a choice eighty favorites should you ever want to see more.