After nearly burning my family’s home down just before Thanksgiving, I was so distraught that I told Skip that I thought I was going to be sick.  He remembered that he still had some generic Valium from his trip to visit us in Singapore last February.  I took one, and thus, any plans I’d had of going to visit my mother-in-law or anyone else were derailed.  The nausea subsided, but I spent most of the day napping, lazing about, and feeling terrible about the mess I’d caused.

Tuesday morning it was time to head over to Indy to visit Jimbo and my family.   At the last minute, I thought I would call my friend, Leslie, in Springfield in the off-chance she might be available to meet me for lunch.  Turns out, she had taken the day off work to attend a special Thanksgiving feast at her grandson’s pre-school.  We said our goodbyes and thank-you’s to Skip, Beth, and Buckner, then headed up Route 4 to Springfield.

As I was nearing Springfield, I called Leslie because sometimes GPS Lady can steer me wrong.  First off, GPS Lady was upset with me because I didn’t want to take I-55 from Carlinville.  She kept telling me, “At the next intersection, make a safe and lawful U-Turn”.  Uh, NO!  I don’t want to go that way stupid GPS Lady.  Leslie and I ended up talking to each other (over GPS Lady’s instructions and much to her dismay) until we both arrived at her bungalow at the same time.  So cool!

FINALLY, I got to see her home, her garden,  grandson’s room, and the beautiful park directly across the street from her home.   We drank some wine, took a short walk, and did our best to catch up on the latest.

Leslie and I have been friends for more than 30 years.  Even though we hadn’t actually seen each other since my father-in-law’s passing in 2005, it felt like we’d seen each other just the day before.  I wish that I’d had more time to visit, but I am happy that we were able to visit for the afternoon.  I <3 you, Leslie!

To be continued…