Christmas in Alabama...day 9, the Journey Home

I would like to start my final posting by wishing all of you a Happy New Year...

Saturday December 28  

Getting up at 6:00am was almost like getting back into our normal routine. But today, I didn't spring out of bed, like I normally do. Instead I crawled out of bed, feeling tired; congested, coughing. A few days ago Kristin was feeling a cold come on. Her throat hurt and she was coughing a lot and was generally feeling crummy. A day later she was feeling much better, but Kerry was now experiencing the same symptoms that Kristin had the day before. I tried to keep my distance, but since Kerry is what completes me, avoiding her was impossible. So I wasn't surprised when, the following day, I started feeling as Kerry and Kristin did. What is it with me and vacations? I seem to always catch a cold (or whatever is going around) when travelling. As we left for the airport, it seems like  Nick and the boys were spared. Karis had a runny nose.

 

Once we reached the Birmingham airport, a 90 minute drive from NIck's house, we breezed through security...actually Kerry breezed through. Somehow she got a TSA Security priority rating and didn't have to show her small 3oz fluid containers in a baggy. Nor did she have to remove her shoes. Instead they just walked her through the X-ray and that was it. By time I got through security I saw her waiting for me on the other side. "Hang on," I pleaded while putting myself back together.

 

Our Dallas flight was bumpy for the first half. Then the pilot found some quiet air and it was smooth flying during the rest of the way in. It was a tiny plane with one seat on one side and two on the other. We slept most of the way. Dallas to Phoenix was on one of those 737's with video. We watched Despicable Me 2. Funny!

 

Our vacation (Christmas in Alabama) ended with a nice drive to Tucson from Phoenix. Other than having the entire east bound highway 10 closed, and being forced to detour over 30 miles through a reservation up by Casa Grande, the trip was uneventful. There must have been a wicked car accident...we never did get to see what happened. Once we finally arrived back in Tucson we made a quick stop for groceries before picking up Rosie We have some good friends who doggy-sit when we travel and when they are travelling we do the same for their dog Pepper. It is good to be back at home.

It is amazing to me that one moment we are sitting in our child's home, on the other side of the country and in a blink of an eye, we are back home, in our bed, under our roof, reflecting on the dream that was our vacation, our Christmas in Alabama. What a small, small world.

Kerry and I closed the year reflecting on where we are, where we've been and where we are going in the future. This year was an amazing journey that took us across Northern Italy, visiting San Diego to bury Kerry's mom and dad, wandering the Pacific Northwest and now, Christmas in Alabama. Kerry even did a couple of solo trips, one to Alabama and another to visit her sister in Central Mexico. We watched our church grow and we got to be a part of that. What a blessing. We even bought a home in a small town called Jacksonville, Oregon (population 2800 / now 2802).  Finally we placed our Tucson house on the market. God will sell it, in His time. We are starting the New Year with an adventure, one that we never saw coming, our relocation to a place where there are actual 4 seasons, where gardens can grow, and water is plentiful.

                                                    Arizona traded in for Oregon

Of course, there will be challenges along the way, obstacles that will dot our path, but we have a resolve to continue on, and that is just what we will do.

May your 2014 be as exciting and adventurous as ours and may each step along your path be Spiritually Blessed. May your health be solid and your wisdom deep and most of all, may your family complete you as ours does for Kerry and me.

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.

RICHARD BACH, Illusions