Terry is back in Alaska

My daughter-in-law, Teresita and I returned to Alaska via airplane last week. Raymond and Terry returned to Alaska via this truck they drove from North Carolina. Raymond bought a slide-in camper in Nebraska so he and Teresita are now RVers. The boat was ours that we gave to son Michael. Robert inherited it after Michael died and gave the boat to his brother, Raymond.

Terry saw mountain goats, mountain sheep, black bears, and moose along the way but they didn't spend much time photographing or visiting or doing tourist things since Raymond had to return to that four letter word w-o-r-k.

I sure missed Terry. There was no one to say, “Look at that” or “What do you think of-?”
I missed the hugs. This morning Terry fixed something on the computer since the webmaster in North Carolina was changing something on the system. Terry is also back in time to dump the black water. Yeah!! Of course I now have a lot of laundry to wash. It’s time to fix dinner. Life has returned to normal. Yeah!

Robert's Dream Come True

Robert is our son who lives in North Carolina. In 2003, I spent some time alone with him while Terry was helping Raymond and Teresita move to Alaska. Robert told me that his dream was to have a family to fill a nice house and do well in his own construction business. Robert’s dream has come true. The next year, he married a beautiful, intelligent woman named Natalia and now has three daughters. Eighteen people stayed overnight in his beautiful home in northwest Raleigh, N. C. before the baptism of little Sara. Robert not only had a new swimming pool to entertain his guests but also cooked for them. His manicotti was delicious.

A Disastrous Week

This is a picture of Attica, Iowa where a tornado occurred a little after 5AM last Friday, May 30,2008. My daughter, Karol, took this picture of the little town, which is close to where they live. She and her family are okay but her close friend and co-worker at the bank woke up in the pond. Audrey’s three children also landed in the pond. Her house is gone. (Her husband was working the night shift and was at work.) Audrey’s seven-year-old son received a broken collarbone but otherwise the injuries were cuts and bruises. I know the town well since we also lived near it when we lived in Iowa. We attended church in Attica for six years.

This was the completion of a very stressful week for me. My Uncle Bud (Henry Visser) died last week in Montana. We saw him a year and a half ago. Since then he and his wife, Bernice, had two sons die. I feel so much sympathy for Aunt Bernice. Before he was buried, my Aunt Ella in Michigan died. Dad is still recovering from his surgery and was told not to drive to Michigan to the funeral of his sister. He asked my brother, Clare, age 53, to take him but Clare was recovering from pericarditis. The next day Clare was rushed by ambulance to Iowa City, which is over a 100 miles from home, to see a specialist in cardiac care.

What do you do when disaster happens to those people close to you or to you? I pray. I talk to close friends who listen to me and say they are sorry. I get hugs. I telephoned my extended family. I went to lunch with a friend. Yesterday a friend came to our RV and gave me a dozen yellow tulips!

I know it will be healing to me to fly to Raleigh, N.C. to hold our month old granddaughter!