Ron and I made our very quick trip to Kansas to see Jewell over the weekend. We left Friday around 11:30 and got there around 9:30 that night. By the time we settled into our hotel room it was well after 10 PM. The drive went well except for a terrible traffic jam on I-35. Ron found an alternate route that paralleled the highway. It was a dirt road, but we were able to bypass most of the traffic. He's a map genius! :o) I'm afraid the people that stayed on the highway sat there for hours. It was a mess!
We got up early Saturday morning, and after breakfast at the hotel we went to see Jewell. The hospice people had set up her bed so that she could look out over the beautiful view of her farm. There were many family members at the house. Jewell is very loved by her family and they mean the world to her. She was in and out of consciousness. They are giving her morphine for pain, but of course it makes her very sleepy. Hospice is there 24 hours a day.
One remarkable thing that happened is that Jewell recognized my voice before she ever saw me. I was talking to someone in the room before I approached her bed, and she asked Barbara if that was my voice she heard. :o) She was happy and surprised to see me, and we were able to really express our love for one another. I'm very, very glad that we made the trip to see her.
It was nice to see other cousins and relatives, in spite of the sad circumstances. While Jewell was sleeping, Barbara went with me and Ron out to the cemetery where Ron's parents and some of his other relatives are buried. When we got back, my Aunt Sue had arrived with her daughter, my cousin Jan. Aunt Sue and Mom are the last of their generation of our family.
We spent part of the afternoon there (it was hard to say goodbye to Jewell), then we went with Johnnie and Mike to visit their son and his wife, and I finally got to see precious Allie (Johnnie's grandbaby) in person. Oh my goodness, what a wonderful little girl! She is so much fun, and loves Mike and Johnnie so much. Of course they are wild about her, too. :o)
Johnnie had told me Allie liked owls, so before we went to Jewell's, Ron and I went shopping for an owl for her. She liked it. It is a little stuffed barn owl. She was hugging it, and Johnnie asked her what it was. Allie replied, "It's a bear!" I guess it didn't quite look like the owls she is used to. :o)
Allie's mommy and daddy took her to her other grandmother's while they went to a Christmas party. Jared suggested we stay at his house so Ron and Mike could watch the football game there, so we did. The guys went down to the gorgeous basement to watch the game and drink Jared's beer, and Johnnie and I stayed upstairs and talked and talked. We ran to get food and came back and talked some more.
Jared and his family moved into a beautiful new home in the spring. He gave us the full tour, and I enjoyed seeing it, but I especially enjoyed seeing how happy he is with his home and family. He's such a good man, and a wonderful father.
We met Mike and Johnnie this morning for breakfast before we left. It was nice to be with them again. I wish we lived closer.
The trip home was uneventful, traffic was much better and we didn't run into any traffic jams. We got home around 8:15 PM. It's good to be home, but our Reece is sick. :o( He had a fever when we got here, and feels awful. Josh said he didn't do much of anything all day, and didn't eat much. He ate a bit with me, and then he went to sleep with Papa. He will stay home from school tomorrow, and may need to see the doctor.
Thank you all for your prayers for Jewell, and for safe travel for us. The weather was perfect all the way there and back. I usually run into a blizzard or ice storm when I go to Kansas in the winter. Not this time. They were having record high temps in Wichita today. (73 degrees) I was glad it wasn't cold!
I took my camera and didn't take one single picture. :o/
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