August 7 – “Double bests”

Cailyn spent the night with us.  The next morning I was up and working at my desk when she stumbled into my office, still half-asleep.  The light of day still hadn’t yet penetrated her powerful nighttime defenses.  I hugged her and said good morning.  She rubbed her eyes and declared, “DadDad, I woke up darkly today.”  Yep.  I can understand that, Cailyn.  Darkly days descend dauntingly, dancing just ahead of the joy that comes in the morning.

Here’s a fun fact for you that I picked up on our trip to Crosby for the funeral of Christi’s grandmother.  Katoen Nataie is a port services operator out of  Antwerp, Belgium.  I know.  Totally useless information.  But I really like saying Antwerp.

The funeral was a really nice celebration of life.  I had two “best parts of the day,” and surprisingly, neither of them were Josh’s sermon.  Which was pretty good, by the way.  Can’t beat a funeral sermon that weaves its way through the view of death in such literary classics as Harry Potter and Star Wars and Chronicles of Narnia.  The first best part was when Christi’s Dad gathered everyone together before even entering the chapel.  He thanked everyone for coming, then introduced Caleb.  Eight-year-old Caleb began a prayer that was incredibly sweet.  He encouraged everyone with, “Help us to remember that even though we’re sad, this is a celebration of MeeMaw going to heaven.”  Yes.  That’s some serious theology right there.  The second of my ”best moments” came after the service when everyone was leaving for the graveside.  See, Chris and I had followed Christi out into the lobby when AnnaGrace couldn’t understand why she couldn’t go hang out with Daddy when he was talking just right there in front of her.  We volunteered to pull babysitting duties so Christi could get back inside.  Another grandma was there as well with Milam, AnnaGrace’s slightly older cousin.  From Chris’ lap she watched him race around the room for a long time.  Finally I reached for her and she actually came right to me.  And apparently I reminded her enough of Daddy.  She buried her head in my shoulder and was out light a light.  So fast forward to the time for graveside service.  I decided to stay inside in the air conditioned comfort while everyone else was at the graveside.  I’m willing to make certain sacrifices for my dear granddaughters.  We found a chair and settled in.  She finally woke up just moments before everyone started returning.  I think she probably would have slept longer, but the funeral home staff woke us – er, I mean her – up. 

We stuck around for the lunch at the local First Baptist Church and then headed home.  Lots of action once we got onto the island.  Not so much from tourists, though.  As we took the 61^st Street exit, Chris noticed some flashing lights in our mirror.  She pulled into a gas station, and the Highway Patrol officer approached us.  Tense moment.  Drumroll here.  “Are you guys just coming down to Galveston to enjoy the weekend?”  Oh, no.  Since he was standing at my window, I assured him that we lived here and were just trying to get home.  He was the consummate professional, and very courteous.  Seems that we had a brake light out, and he was just giving us a warning.  Thank you for your kindness officer.

Oh and the 40 Steps update.  The garage walls and roof decking are all up.  I walked around to the front to see how the door would be located.  And I saw a door that a hot wheels car might fit through.  So that highly touted garage structure is not a garage after all.  It’s a shed.  We also snuck a peak at the onsite plans.  What we thought would be the driveway around to the garage is apparently going to be the back/side yard.  They are putting a powered lift in at the front of the building that will block any car’s attempt to get in.  I guess if the occupants have a car they will just have to park it in the street or block the sidewalk.  That won’t be a pretty picture when the neighbors realize it.

1 Peter 2:10 says, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Father, thank you for the conscientiousness of the officer who stopped us.  Keep him safe.  Amen.