Waiting for Gregg

Gregg is on his way back from a business trip to Spain. I am really looking forward to having him home; he had to leave on Father's Day (this is not the first year this has happened, by the way. One year, they sent him to Japan on Mother's Day AND Father's Day -- but I am not complaining). It's always a long day for him, traveling home, and a bit of an adjustment to our time zone. We are going to go for a walk after he gets here.

David is upstairs, packing for his week at tennis camp. We'll be getting up really early to drive to the airport tomorrow; his flight leaves around 7:00 A.M., and in order to be there early enough for check in, we have to leave before the first ferry, so we are driving around the peninsula and across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I'm thinking that Gregg is going to sleep in and skip this trip due to jet lag, but you never know.

David and I had a good visit at the hospital on Thursday with several of our staff friends. We delivered 12 new quilts, and Gregg's cousin Rebecca met us there and brought two more. I understand that they will have given out 4 of them by Monday! It's so rewarding to hear how the families are touched when their child is given a quilt. I wish I could be present to see it happen, but to protect the patient's privacy, I can't; I do get to hear about it from staff, so that helps me to feel connected. One of our favorite nurses told us that she is going back to be a nurse at Camp Goodtimes this weekend, so I am happy for her and the campers. She is sweet, funny, has a strong spirit, and she plays cribbage! She and David enjoyed a game or two in the hospital, when she was our nurse.

The first session of Camp Goodtimes is about to start tomorrow. I hope everyone has a wonderful week there, and that all of the parents have a much-deserved rest while their kids have fun. It was sure a great experience for our family last year. The camp holds a special "Memory Circle" at each session (it's purely voluntary), where they remember all of the former campers who have passed away. David is eligible to go this year, one more time, as the sibling of a cancer patient, but he has told us that he doesn't want to do it, and we certainly won't force the issue. Mooselips is going to keep us posted about how it goes at Memory Circle when they share about Katie. I wish I could hear that, too, in a way, but I think it would be too hard.

I went to see a show of my friend (and neighbor) Maureen's paintings today, and WHOA; she is a talented painter! She had a number of beautiful pieces in the show, and one especially gorgeous and powerful piece that has great personal significance for our journey of the past year and a half. We are so blessed with our neighbors here; they pulled together to support us and walk beside us strongly and generously (that story probably deserves a separate post).
Thank you for sharing you artistic vision with me, and with the community, Maureen. You go, girl; the sky's the limit...or maybe, there is no limit.