Giving thanks

Hello everyone from the New England village of Owego, New York where my daughter and I have been staying this weekend on vacation.  Of course, I'd like to be able to say that everything has run smoothly so far but that wouldn't be telling you the truth.  It's been rough, actually really rough with thanks to a very unplanned encounter with an escalator in the airport at Detroit.  All it took was one misstep, one tumble and a very unladylike trip head first down most of it to change everything in an instant.  At first I wasn't even going to type this blog post but after considering things a bit, I decided it was a good way to "save me" from myself.  Right now I'm kind of filled with some overwhelming sadness and one of the things that I've learned from writing this blog is the value of the "therapy of the written word."  Maybe when I finish I might feel better~figure that it cannot hurt one bit.  You know, in retrospect I probably should have gone to the doctor yesterday.  But hey, I figured just to wait it out and hope it would get better on its own.  That didn't happen.  When I woke up this morning it was still there and actually felt even a bit more painful than yesterday and when I wasn't taking the deep kinds of breath that I should, I knew it was time to seek some medical attention.  So off I went, in the early morning hours to Johnson City, just about 25 minutes away from Owego.  Not in my plans, of course, but sometimes "Miller's normal" is not like anyone else's is.

When the emergency room nurse came in to get some information from me and found out that I was from a place 1,200 miles away she got curious.  What was I doing in New York?  I told her that I was staying in Owego, just up the road.  She was even more surprised to learn that I was in Owego and asked me why I happened to be there.  I gave her the answer in 4 words~"Because I love Owego" and the truth is that I really do.   And so tonight as I sit here in our quarters of the beautiful and stately Pumpelly House, I am glad that for the past two days I have had the privilege and the honour of being here in Tioga County, New York. I have said it before and will say once again, if a person could fall in love with a village then Peggy Miller has fallen in love with Owego.

Getting here all the way from my home on 14th Street in Hutchinson, Kansas has been quite an adventure.  We left after school on Friday and headed to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and spent the night there with my oldest son Ricky and his girlfriend Angie.  In the very early morning hours, around 3 a.m., we headed for the airport in Tulsa to board our flight to Detroit.  No problems and actually pretty smooth flying.  Then, well THEN there was Detroit, Michigan and the place where things all changed very suddenly and NOT for the good by the way.  If ribs could talk, then mine would tell you and just a "heads up" here, they would not tell you with a "smiley face".  I honestly don't know exactly how it happened but I do remember my carry-on baggage wheel getting caught in the escalator's step.  The next thing I knew, about a 1/3 of the way down, I lost my balance and footing and down I went head-first.  I tried my best to protect "old lefty" and in the process rolled over to my right side as I fell.  Found out the hard way that the bones on the right side of my body are just as easy to break as the bones on the left.  By the time I sat down in the plane ten minutes later, I knew I was in big trouble.

The doctor advised me this morning that my original intentions of leaving this week early to go to New York City would probably not work out all that great for me.  Between the walking, being jostled in the crowds, and climbing of stairs I'd be more miserable than not.  Although it is a very bitter pill to swallow, I know that good sense would tell me it is better to sit this one out.  I'm sending my daughter Ursela on ahead to New York City on Tuesday morning. Her cousin Jessica will meet her there and take good care of her for the week ahead.  I have a plane ticket to return back to Kansas on Tuesday as well.  Not exactly the "end" that I had in mind to this journey but I do know this~I am positive that it was a part of my life's "plan".  I may not understand it or even like it but I know that it's for the best.  It makes me happy that at least my Ursela will get to see New York City and that she will tell me all about it when she comes home next weekend.

On the way back from Johnson City this morning I was feeling about as depressed as could be.  As is always the case when I feel like this, I always have some of my very best conversations with God.  For a change, I wasn't "bartering" with him~like asking Him to make everything better so I could go to New York City this week.  I wasn't asking Him "why me Lord?" or "what did I do to deserve this?"  Instead, I was just asking for help to get home to Kansas safe and sound and while I was at it, with tears in my eyes I just asked Him to send me some kind of sign that everything would be ok, that everything would work out.  So deep in thought was I that I missed the turn into the village and had to go an extra mile or two out of the way to find a spot to turn around in.  Turns out that it wasn't an accident that I didn't make a right turn when I should because His "sign" was literally THAT~a sign that I saw that meant all the world to me on this dismal and cloudy March day.  It was this sign that made me have hope once again~

Even with everything "bad" that has seemingly gone wrong in the last 48 hours, I know that I am still one very blessed woman.  Broken ribs, sooner or later, will find a way to heal and when I grow old I can tell the story to all of my grandchildren about the time their grandmother fell all the way down an escalator trying to catch a plane on time.  Between that story and my infamous curb jumping incident, I should be set for "adventure times with Grandma" for years to come.  Life has been so very good to me and as I look forward to the future I do so with a grateful heart.  Someone very special in my life is waiting for me to join him in Montrose, Colorado come this summer time.  And the blessings just keep on pouring down on me.  Heading to bed soon and trying to get a little bit of rest.  In the very least of things I give thanks.  I have appreciated your words of encouragement and hope today.  I will be always beholden to you all for your love and kindness.

Good night to you from Owego, New York.  This has been Sunday, March 24th of 2013-a wonderfully great day to have been alive in and please don't forget it.  

To the good people of the village of Owego, NY.....I thank you for your kindness to me.  It has been such a pleasure to visit this beautiful place once again.  If I could have ever been born in a place other than Kansas, I would surely choose for it to have been here.