She's 39 and Holdin'. . .
Last Friday would have been Karen's 40th birthday. With that in mind, I headed back to D/FW (for those of you not from the great country - oops, I mean state - of Texas (home of the NCAA National Champions, The University of Texas Longhorns - talk amongst yourselves. . . (biting lip) I'm feeling a little verclempt. . .OK, D/FW stand for Dallas/Fort Worth) for some visits and dinner with Karen's family.
It was a great trip. Ok, so the time of the first flight wasn't so great - I left Mobile at 6:30 in the morning. That meant Mike, the not-so-early-bird, was leaving the house at 5:00 freakin-am! Caught a plane to Houston, then another to Dallas. Let me tell ya - the feelin' of gettin' off that plane and standing on holy ground is U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E. There's just something about coming home that puts a big ol' smile on your face.
Climbed into the rental car and headed for Plano. That was where Karen and I called home. It was where we lived the longest (7 years) and where we were living when God called us into full time ministry. Connected with Gene and Stacey at Legacy Church. Gene is the pastor and Stacey and I used to office next to each other there - oh yeah, Gene was our boss. I think he's still going for therapy for that one. Had a great lunch and afternoon getting caught up, laughing and sharing stories. . .memories. While we were just hangin' out Stacey reminded me that Karen would always be 39. She would never be 40. Sooo. . .I gues she's 39 and holding - for real!! Never thought about it like that, but it was funny. May have had to be there, eh? Thanks guys it was incredible.
That night headed to Fort Worth where Stacey and I hooked up with his parents for dinner then I headed to my aunt and uncle's for some family time with them, my cousin, Timmy, and my mom.
Next day headed to Midlothian to show mom Karen's gravestone. On the way hit the Starbucks in Mansfield where I was able to spend some quality time with Leigh Ann (my sister) and her children. After some time at the cemetary went to dinner with Karen's family at Mac Daddy's between Midlothian and Waxahachie. We had a great time - it was good, really really good!
Post-dinner headed to Allen where I stayed the night with Randy and Tama. They are long-time friends who met when Karen and I were leading the singles ministry at Legacy. They're still married, in spite of our continued friendship, with three wonderful children. Great night there and tasty breakfast. Thanks guys for the room and board. You're always there when I need a place to crash. Hope Randy's feeling better. He needs to stay away from that weird food he eats in China.
For lunch I met up with Ken, my best friend from high school - Waxahachie High School, home of the Fightin' Indians!! We met at Bread Winners, a tasty local place just north of downtown Dallas (Hall & McKinney for the locals). But for just a moment last year at Karen's funeral, Ken and I haven't seen each other in a very, very long time. You talk about stories! We had 'em. There's not much we don't remember about each other. It was a great time of catching up! Ken, thanks for lunch.
Next I was able to spend some time with Brandon, my youngest brother, and his wife, Sarrah. Brandon attends SMU's school of law. We had a great afternoon of just spending time with each other - getting caught up on what's going on in their livesand mine. And Mike said, "It was good!"
About 4:00 Satuday afternoon I hit the road - running! I was supposed to be at the airport at 4:00, NOT heading to the airport at 4:00. I still had to get gas, run down to the south end of the airport to turn in the rental car and, catch the shuttle to ol' Terminal B.
Needless to say, I made it with time to spare. Got a chance to make some phone calls, talk to some family - some I didn't get a chance to visit with on this trip, and just sprawl out for a few moments.
FINALLY - boarded the plane and headed back to Mobile. Arrived without a problem, until. . .Ever get that funny feeling in your stomach like something's not quite right? I got it, then figured it out. Everyone who boarded the plane in Dallas was missing their luggage! So. . .after everyone else from the flight had left and another plane-load of people picked up their luggage they let us in on the problem. No big deal. I didn't need anything in there, excpept my new Harley shirt I picked up in Allen. Everything else? Just stuff.
Grabbed some dinner, headed home, and smiled all the way! Animals (Cats-Lucy & Ranger; Dogs-Mix, Dakota, and Sadie) were glad to see me. It's good to come home.
Thank you to everyone who made this weekend special for me. I greatly appreciate everyone and all you did.
Mike
I think I've probably earned some kind of award for the most links in a post or something. If not - oh well. I also put over 300 miles on a rental car! Got my money's worth, no doubt!
It was a great trip. Ok, so the time of the first flight wasn't so great - I left Mobile at 6:30 in the morning. That meant Mike, the not-so-early-bird, was leaving the house at 5:00 freakin-am! Caught a plane to Houston, then another to Dallas. Let me tell ya - the feelin' of gettin' off that plane and standing on holy ground is U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E. There's just something about coming home that puts a big ol' smile on your face.
Climbed into the rental car and headed for Plano. That was where Karen and I called home. It was where we lived the longest (7 years) and where we were living when God called us into full time ministry. Connected with Gene and Stacey at Legacy Church. Gene is the pastor and Stacey and I used to office next to each other there - oh yeah, Gene was our boss. I think he's still going for therapy for that one. Had a great lunch and afternoon getting caught up, laughing and sharing stories. . .memories. While we were just hangin' out Stacey reminded me that Karen would always be 39. She would never be 40. Sooo. . .I gues she's 39 and holding - for real!! Never thought about it like that, but it was funny. May have had to be there, eh? Thanks guys it was incredible.
That night headed to Fort Worth where Stacey and I hooked up with his parents for dinner then I headed to my aunt and uncle's for some family time with them, my cousin, Timmy, and my mom.
Next day headed to Midlothian to show mom Karen's gravestone. On the way hit the Starbucks in Mansfield where I was able to spend some quality time with Leigh Ann (my sister) and her children. After some time at the cemetary went to dinner with Karen's family at Mac Daddy's between Midlothian and Waxahachie. We had a great time - it was good, really really good!
Post-dinner headed to Allen where I stayed the night with Randy and Tama. They are long-time friends who met when Karen and I were leading the singles ministry at Legacy. They're still married, in spite of our continued friendship, with three wonderful children. Great night there and tasty breakfast. Thanks guys for the room and board. You're always there when I need a place to crash. Hope Randy's feeling better. He needs to stay away from that weird food he eats in China.
For lunch I met up with Ken, my best friend from high school - Waxahachie High School, home of the Fightin' Indians!! We met at Bread Winners, a tasty local place just north of downtown Dallas (Hall & McKinney for the locals). But for just a moment last year at Karen's funeral, Ken and I haven't seen each other in a very, very long time. You talk about stories! We had 'em. There's not much we don't remember about each other. It was a great time of catching up! Ken, thanks for lunch.
Next I was able to spend some time with Brandon, my youngest brother, and his wife, Sarrah. Brandon attends SMU's school of law. We had a great afternoon of just spending time with each other - getting caught up on what's going on in their livesand mine. And Mike said, "It was good!"
About 4:00 Satuday afternoon I hit the road - running! I was supposed to be at the airport at 4:00, NOT heading to the airport at 4:00. I still had to get gas, run down to the south end of the airport to turn in the rental car and, catch the shuttle to ol' Terminal B.
Needless to say, I made it with time to spare. Got a chance to make some phone calls, talk to some family - some I didn't get a chance to visit with on this trip, and just sprawl out for a few moments.
FINALLY - boarded the plane and headed back to Mobile. Arrived without a problem, until. . .Ever get that funny feeling in your stomach like something's not quite right? I got it, then figured it out. Everyone who boarded the plane in Dallas was missing their luggage! So. . .after everyone else from the flight had left and another plane-load of people picked up their luggage they let us in on the problem. No big deal. I didn't need anything in there, excpept my new Harley shirt I picked up in Allen. Everything else? Just stuff.
Grabbed some dinner, headed home, and smiled all the way! Animals (Cats-Lucy & Ranger; Dogs-Mix, Dakota, and Sadie) were glad to see me. It's good to come home.
Thank you to everyone who made this weekend special for me. I greatly appreciate everyone and all you did.
Mike
I think I've probably earned some kind of award for the most links in a post or something. If not - oh well. I also put over 300 miles on a rental car! Got my money's worth, no doubt!
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