Thanks for old friends

Taken when Geoffrey was born

We are heading south tomorrow morning, and going to stay until Saturday afternoon with very dear friends.  Last year our plans for Thanksgiving with them were cancelled when our little grandson was ill.

They moved in across the street when I was six months pregnant with Geoff, and they were just feeling their way back into the Church, because of the love and encouragement of another terrific family where they had been living before.  We went through a lot together, crises and challenges on both sides, and provided spiritual and emotional anchors for each other.

This picture gives you an idea of how long it's been.  Carole wasn't even thought of yet, and she and Hannah grew up together literally from birth, with the Almighty giving Hannah a six-months' head start.  It was such fun to watch those baby stages as Hannah would leave one stage and Carole would enter it.  It made us realize how universal those stages are, even to the expressions on their faces as they responded to things that were all new to them.  Now Hannah is married and she and her husband will be going to another state for school.  Carole is a senior in college, and who knows where she will be next year.  Life changes for all of us.

R. transferred from Seattle to Portland, and they moved a dozen years ago.  I am grateful that they are still part of our lives, though I can't pop across the street anymore.  I do miss them at stake conference, when we used to go out together after the Saturday adult meetings--which are often the best meetings in the Church--and talk.  But on my list of blessings, they are still big.  Unhurried time with them will be wonderful.

So,--come morning!--I'm happily outta here.