A Very Special Blessing . . . and Bittersweet News. . .

The Special Blessing: On Wednesday night, I was sitting in the Fellowship Hall at church telling some friends about Nathan who is now stationed in Minot, North Dakota. The way I understand it, he had a conversation with a female officer on Tuesday morning that went something like this:

Her - 'Aren't you the Airman with the wife and new baby?'
Him - 'Yes, Ma'am.'
Her - 'Have you seen that baby yet?'
Him - 'No Ma'am'.
Her - 'Here are some papers. Fill them out, and get out of here.'

(It took a woman to make that happen!! Sorry guys!)

He told us later that it took him about 15 minutes to complete that paperwork, pack up his car, and hit the road. He drove 18 hours, and arrived in the wee hours of the morning to see his favorite girls - Ruthie and Ella. I heard that reunion was very special.

As I told this story though, Simon Wood ran over to me, and wanted me to pick him up - which I did. He threw his arms around my neck, laid his head on my shoulder, and hugged me as if we were the best of friends. It made me think of our Little Ella doing the same thing someday, and I nearly cried.

The Bittersweet News: When I was talking with Nathan on the phone an hour or so before all of this, in addition to telling me how sweet it was to finally see his Baby Girl, he also said that they were all leaving on Saturday to return to Minot. And while we knew Ruthie and Ella would join him there soon, it's all happening so fast. Rather than fly up to meet him after they've found housing, she's going to drive back with him on Saturday. (I honestly don't think they can stand being apart any longer!)

And so here they are this morning. Asleep in the spare bedroom. They came for dinner last night, and were too tired to drive back to Alton so they spent the night. Ruth said, 'That's OK, isn't it?' OF COURSE it's OK!!!

But it just delayed the inevitable departure. And I'm very sad this morning because in just a couple of hours (or less) we'll tell them all goodbye for awhile. And now I can't type for the tears. . .