~in the journey from here to there~

The end of the day has come about and outside the darkness has already fallen.  A load of clothes is tossing about in the dryer and our bed is still filled with all the stuff we have unloaded from the car.  Mike helped me to quickly bake a batch of strawberry cheesecake muffins for the kids to enjoy at break time tomorrow.  Even though the evening was getting later and later, I knew that we couldn't disappoint them.  Once they finish cooling off, I'll slip them into a container and ready them for the trip to school tomorrow morning.

You can't fill a child's mind with knowledge when their bellies are on empty.  Sometimes kids get hungry.  It happens.

We had a lovely trip home to Kansas this past weekend with my brother-in-law Wes joining us.  It was a time planned to honor the dead who have gone on before us and we kept our promise to do just that.  Saturday morning we attended the ALS walk on the Waterfront in Wichita, Kansas to honor the memory of my brother who has passed away from it as well as be of support to all those who have lost family members to the illness more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.  It was a sea of folks, all there because of that one thing that we all had in common.  

ALS is progressive and saddest of all, it is always fatal.

About 2/3 of the way into the mile long walk, I found his sign and stopped to take my picture by it as I always have done before.  The placards were so many and each person's name represented a life lost far too soon.  10 years ago, my brother was one of them.

I was so thankful that I was joined for the morning by Mike and Wes.  It only took about 2 hours in all for the walk and what a beautiful day to be in Wichita! 

Afterwards we headed to the cemetery at Haven to stop by and visit the grave of my sister Sherry.  She would have been so happy to have been able to go on the walk with us.  She and Mike were very close to one another.  Last year, we both made the journey to Kansas to do the 2016 ALS walk but Sherry fell quite ill and was rushed to the ICU at a local hospital.  Our intent was to do the 2017 walk together but that plan was destined to fail.  So this year I walked for the both of us and when I found her grave at Laurel Cemetery, I whispered to her in my heart that I had kept our promise and made good on walking.

I think she would have been happy.

I am so thankful that she is now at peace and enjoying a life in Heaven.  I know I will see her once again when my time comes to go "home".

The clothes in the dryer are finally finished now and once I get them folded up, it will be time to get to bed.  Tomorrow is a new day and there are 10 second graders who need me to come and be with them at school.  I have missed those kids and I can't wait to tell them all about my trip home to Kansas.

I really had nothing profound to say tonight, except for one thing.  
I'm glad for the life that I have been given.  
I wouldn't change a thing in the journey from here to there.