Thank-you

Thanks to all for your kind words of support and comfort. I'm home now in California--and what a trip it was to try to get back home! After a week in North Carolina with my family, I left Raleigh-Durham Thursday night for what was supposed to be a 5-hour flight to Las Vegas, a one-hour layover, and a 1-hour flight to Palm Springs. I should have been home at 2 am California time, or 5 am Raleigh time. Instead, I learned in Vegas that my flight to Palm Springs was running four hours late. I had a choice of taking a flight to Ontario and a bus to Palm Springs, arriving around 3 am, waiting for a flight that probably would get cancelled, or spending the night in Vegas and flying home the next day. Since I was really tired and wanted to sleep, I didn't want options one or two. So, I slept for 5 hours at Terrible's Hotel (without my luggage!), and flew out of Vegas for Phoenix at 9:40 am. Phoenix? It was the only flight that would connect me with Palm Springs. After a two-hour layover in Phoenix, we were told the flight to Palm Springs was running about 40 minutes late. Aaarrgghh. But it did take off, and I finally made it home to Forest Falls at 4:30 pm. The best part of it was that my luggage was waiting for me in Palm Springs and nothing was lost.

I had a wonderful week in North Carolina. We all gathered at my big sister's house in Cary, and found out that Alice's (Barry's wife) company was giving us three hotel rooms for the weekend. (She works for a company that owns several hotels and department stores in the area). That allowed my oldest brother and youngest sister and I to stay there, while Mom and another sister stayed with my oldest sister. Alice's mother stayed with her at their home in Fuquay-Varina, and after she left Monday, I went to stay with Alice.

The funeral service was Saturday. It was touching and wonderful, and sad. We got to meet a lot of Barry's friends, and saw how loved he was. It was also nice seeing my brother and sisters and Alice and her son and daughter. We all renewed some connections that were a bit fragmented through the years, and vowed to keep those communication lines open and more frequent. I came home to my wonderful husband, having missed him dearly, and had a great time in the kitchen this afternoon. (Airport meals leave much to be desired).