Mom's Trip to Bountiful (part 1)

Once upon a time we enjoyed traveling.  I am absolutely thankful for the trips we have taken...the places we have visited...the memories we have made.

But then Covid struck, and all that changed.

At first, we couldn't travel.

Then we could travel, but with restrictions.

Now many of those restrictions have been lifted, but not all, and .... the entire world has gone way too woke, way too fearsome and way, way too crazy.

These days we enjoy staying in our bubble, eating our popcorn and watching the world burn.

We are over here living our simple life just waiting for Jesus to come and get us.

But one day as I am talking to mom, noting she feels much the same as we do, she does  mention, "Though I would like to take one last trip to Iowa before I die."

We can do that! 

We start planning.  Mom gets in touch with a few relatives, some still in Iowa, others who are not, and we get a small family reunion congregating in early November in Iowa.  

Fun!

And then mom gets sick.  Halloween even has her at the ER.  

Being the compassionate, caring person I am, I tell her, "Get well old lady.  There is only ONE reason we're all going to Iowa, and that one reason is YOU, so you gotta get well!!!"

To which mom replied, "oh, I'm going.  I may die on the way, but I'm going!"

So....  we go!

Our first stop is to Kristi's house so we can get mom.

We didn't get to visit with Kristi and James long, but the Astros were in the fat middle of the World Series, so I'm not even sure they wanted to spend much time talking with us anyway.  😉 

However, I had recently celebrated my birthday.  My sister, who is way more creative than I am was ecstatic to give me my birthday gift.  To combine my love of all things pumpkin and to celebrate me turning 60 (😳) she put together a goody bag containing 60 pumpkin spice flavored or scented items!! Woo-hoo happy birthday to me!!

We set out Thursday morning.

Mom is definitely not her usual feisty self.  We can tell she is struggling to make the trip, but we go.  

And somehow I know arriving in her beloved Iowa and meeting up with long lost family will put the pep back in her step. 

We check into the Super 8 motel in Boone, Iowa.

**side note:  The 8 was not "super" at all. Perhaps  "adequate 8" would have been more appropriate, but, thankfully, it was a great location and it was clean!

Boone, Iowa is where mom was born.  Boone County Hospital, Boone, Iowa back in 1942.  (January 8th) Mom moved away from Boone as a small child and moved around extensively, but managed to move back to Boone and graduate  from Boone High School in 1959.

Arriving at the Super 8 just behind us are Danny and Janelle.  Danny and Janelle are two of the four children born to Mom's eldest sister, June Lind Grayson.  Mom has always been close to her sister June's children, and I know they all love each other immensely.  That Danny came from Las Vegas and Janelle came from Elburn, IL for this trip meant so much to Mom.  

Arriving shortly thereafter were Sherry Lohman and Becky Berglund.  

Because the 8 was adequate and not super, we had to find a place to take our small reunion. We found the backroom of the Colorado Grill and spent quite a few hours reminiscing.

Sherry and Becky are sisters. Now, family trees can be a bit confusing when not looking at them on paper and especially when you don't know those involved, but the easiest way to explain my relationship to Sherry and Becky is their biological grandmother was married to my biological grandfather.  My mom would be their step-aunt.  As a teenager my mom babysat them, and they all have fond memories of those days.

Sitting around visiting we were all realizing how thankful we were that by the grace of God as completely messed up as many of our childhoods were and as discombobulated as our family is we all managed to, not only survive, but to thrive.  

Not everyone does.

Sherry came from Iowa City and Becky came from Bozeman, MT for this little reunion, and again, it meant SO MUCH that they would make this trip for mom.

We had such fun talking, visiting, remembering;  catching up on one another's lives and just being together.

We finally decided we probably should leave the Colorado Grill for the night, and Mark and I headed into Iowa Falls to meet up at an air bnb with Jenni, Dustin and kids.

It was a great day.