Thursday, May 15, 2014

May 15 - "Nice job, my Padawan"

Mileage: 70144
Telephone problems put aside, we finally decided to get a fresh start in the morning and get on the road, just one day late.  We were up at pretty much ready by about 8 a.m., but it was raining.  Chris checked the weather report.  A massive band of thunderstorms was sweeping through the area.  It was almost past us and looked pretty clear on the other side, though.  On a whim Chris checked the previous path of the storms.  Sure enough, had we left the day before we would have had had to drive right through the middle of them.  In fact that very morning interstate 45 had been closed at two different points due to flooding.  Talk about a trip into the blustery thunderstorm-y northlands.  It did rain on us some as we made our way north, finally stopping about Houston.  We saw lots of evidence of the previous day’s downpour.  They had some serious flooding in the area between Huntsville and Madisonville.  Hmm.  Guess there was a reason why the Lord prevented us from leaving the day before. 

It stayed cloudy the whole day, though, so it was cool.  Actually I got a running commentary on the temperature from Chris.  “It’s 68 degrees now.  Now it’s 65.  I’m glad I brought my sweater.  Now it’s down to 63.”  Needless to say, we pulled out the jackets when we stopped for a picture with Madisonville’s Buckee the Beaver, or groundhog, or chipmunk, or whatever animal he’s supposed to be.

We made it to Dallas and to the hospital where Robert was with no real problems.  I think we just missed the bad traffic times.  He was still in ICU, but they were just waiting for a bed to open up on a regular floor.  He had already taken a spin around the floor with physical therapy, and had been pronounced a success.  When Melinda came in to see him the first time after surgery she cautiously asked him how he was doing.  In response he slowly lifted a grin with just one side of his mouth.  Doing her best to stay positive, she determined to herself that this would be fine.  She could learn to live with … Wait.  She glanced back at him again and now he had a full grin and was even chuckling at her response.  Gotcha.  Now that would have been a really funny thing to behold.  She was relieved, of course, but guess who got the blame for the whole prank?  Me.  What’s up with that?  She said way back in college I began the process of warping his mind that led to this insane hoax.  Wow.  A legacy to be proud of, that’s for sure.  Nice job, my Padawan. 

We didn’t stay long since he was in ICU and he was pretty tired after his jog around the floor.  In fact they didn’t even charge us for parking.  Nice.  Our next stop was at a Coldwater Creek ladies clothing store in Arlington.  I didn’t know that one was on the itinerary.  Seems they are going out of business and Chris had a gift card to use.  Hey.  When Momma’s happy, everybody’s happy.  Besides, this place has some nice overstuffed chairs designed just for husbands to crash in while their wives shop. 

After a great steak dinner with our good friends Cary and Kay Lynn, we stayed the night at their house.  Great friends.  Two friend connections in one day.  That’ll check off as a good one.  And now onward to … who knows?

Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Father, thank you for the friends you have blessed us with.  Bless them back.  Amen.

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