Today is my 8th day to be here in Kansas and it shall be my last one this time around. Come the early morning hours tomorrow, I'll point the car westward and begin the journey back towards the other side of the big mountain and home to Montrose. When I left there last Thursday school had just been dismissed for the summer, I'd said my sad good-bye to "the 18", and the new shed Mike had been building was only partially completed. Time flew, no matter if I was here in Kansas or there in Colorado. I knew when I came back this trip that I could not stay forever because my new forever is now in another place and time. But I'm glad that I came back, even with a journey that brings hard work, sore muscles, and a few tears to be shed. God has been good to me and this trip has been filled with so many of His blessings.
I came here with the intention of finally and completely emptying my house of its contents, something that I had been attempting to do a little each time when I traveled back here. This time I have felt a sense of real urgency about the task at hand as it turned into an "if I really can't take it with me and I actually don't need it anyways, well then it's time to give it away or throw it away" kind of moment. I'm so glad that good friends here in the area helped me out by coming over and taking home the things that I no longer needed but they could still use for themselves. It was a great feeling, a "freeing" one at that, to be able to just give it away. I don't know why I don't do more of that :)
I took time yesterday to pause for a moment and enjoy a few last moments with my dear friend and companion for four years now, old Oblio the Roundhead. Obie has her 4th birthday this month, a yellow cat that has brought me so much enjoyment and love over the course of the last 48 months. She was one of a litter of 6 identical kittens born underneath the shed of my sister-in-law Paula's house. Those little kittens were so identical that I'm not sure how it was that we identified the one we took home. But the one we took back with us to Hutch that day in the summer of 2010 became like a part of the family and when family members leave you and move away, well then you can't help but cry a bit so yesterday that is just what I did. That darn cat would absolutely not leave a Christmas tree alone, not for anything. I guess I will always remember her when I see one and imagine all of the times when I tried to think of ingenious ways to keep her out of our tree. Not a thing would work, so finally at the end I just gave up trying. It was easier that way and a whole lot less stressful. You can only have the official score stand at "Oblio-3,000 vs the Christmas tree-0" so many times before you realize how fruitless the attempt is to keep a curious cat from climbing the tree in the forest that comes out once a year during the month of December. Geesch, humans can actually be pretty dumb at times. I know firsthand that is true now.
I'm nearly done and just getting ready to go back in to complete some last minute things. My goal is to be finished by mid-afternoon here, still allowing just a little more time to visit with family and friends, see a few sights, and get some much needed rest before making the return trip tomorrow. The journey will be long, 611 miles long but I will make it. I have before many times and will do again I am sure. I will be glad to have a day off to rest on Sunday before I head back to work on Monday morning as a CNA providing health care to the elderly who are still able to remain in their own homes in lieu of entering the world of long-term health care. I will be busy but that's ok with me. I tend to get into a lot less trouble when I have a busy schedule and that's a good thing.
For the wonderful days I have spent here, even if they have been busy ones, I give thanks. Kansas, I love you very much. Your people are MY people and I will never forget that, not once. Colorado, I have grown to love you too and your people? Well THEY are my people as well. I have missed my dear friends in Montrose and Olathe and I hope to be able to reconnect with a few of them during the course of the summer months ahead. Back home in Montrose, just outside the city limits in a little 100-year old farmhouse, there is this guy I know and his dog named Sally. They miss me and I miss them. After over a week of being away from the Western Slopes, it is now time to get myself back home. I love you guys all and I thank you for all of your kindness to me. Here in Kansas or there in Colorado or anywhere in between, I am one very blessed woman. May peace be the journey you have this day dear friends. Take care of yourselves and one another.
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