The Bonny Glen in the Heart of my Home

We had a little visit, a much-too-short-little visit with some of our favorite people.  It's been far too long since these children were all together.  We've even added a few since the last time (which is why it's been so long). I had such fun watching my Katie totally entranced with Rilla and Wonderboy.

 

After they left, she promptly renamed all of her dolls "Rilla." 

Nicholas was shy at first.  He has a tendency to want to rehearse everything he's going to say before he says it and so he is quiet in a crowd.  After he emerged from behind a chair, he disappeared with Beanie and the two became fast friends. He told me as we went to bed that she's his new best friend. It's no wonder, she's a curly-haired doll baby, cutie pie.  She told me as they were leaving, "I'm not very happy about this."  Me neither, sweetheart.  Me neither.

We made the most of the time we had and I kept reminding myself not to shadow the sunny days with the dark cloud of their imminent 3000 mile move.

So there was one last,  great sleepover in the princess bed, followed by a great morning. (Beanie gives really good morning hugs!)

And then there was goodbye.  Saddest of all was the hug Jane gave Mary Beth.  I think that Lissa and I were both worried that they'd never let go.  Or maybe that they would and we'd both give in to welling tears.

San Diego is such a long, long way away. It's a good thing we both love to write and an even better thing that our children seem to have inherited the passion.

Kindred Spirits

I was just blessed with two days of cherished friendship.  My best friend from college came to visit.  Her husband had a business trip a few hours away and he and my husband jumped through some big traveling hoops to make it possible for Jan to spend the time at my house.

We talked and talked and talked. There was some looking back, way back, to our days together at the University of Virginia.  We remembered learning to write a unit study and not learning to manage a classroom.  We talked about the twaddle we sat through and we appreciated the teachers who really did inspire us.  She's now a teacher and an administrator a small classical school.  (Hey, me too ;-).  Funny how we both discovered Latin at the same time, far, far from the grounds of that school which supposedly embodies the Thomas Jefferson Education. We giggled with my children about a ridiculous four credit course entirely devoted to rubber cement and exacto knives.  We cleaned out my learning room and pored over books and started planning yet another unit. I showed her the world of lapbooks (and we laughed some more about proficiency in cutting and pasting). We traded ideas and solved each other's problems.

But it wasn't all "professional."  My husband marveled at how we could pick up right where we left off fifteen years ago, sharing stories and hearts and souls.  We had long talks that left me feeling full.  This time, though, there were new dimensions. We were able to look back with some perspective on mistakes made and lessons learned.  And we were able to look ahead with considerably more confidence than either of us had when we were 19.

Finally, there was the dimension the men in our lives brought to our friendship. Jan knew Mike when we were in college.  She oohed and ahhed over my engagement ring and helped me plan my wedding.  But I never knew her husband, except through letters and cards and phone calls.  On her final night at my house, he came to stay. He's perfect for her and I so enjoyed getting to know him.  The four of us stayed up talking way too late and I thought with a little pang how it just seemed like we'd all been great friends forever--and then how far away they really live.

Still, I sit here tonight amazed by God's provision.  After what has easily been the loneliest time of my life, He brought my husband and hers together to make it possible for us all to truly fill up on friendship.  Amazing.  Really.