After doing the Badlands and having breakfast in Wall Drug, in Wall, SD (a large former drug store that is a huge souvenir shop which Debbie would have loved!). I teared up as I passed the jewelry counter as I would have spent forty-five minutes there had Debbie been with me. In days of old, I would have thought those would be tears of joy but they were, in fact, tears of missing her. Monday, September 18, I took the long drive across South Dakota then headed north to Minneapolis. There, my accommodations were quite unique. I stayed in an Airbnb in downtown Minneapolis that is over a hundred years old and has its own website (www.300Clifton.com)! It was in walking distance to downtown and a very nice park brandishing of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes (or pond).
Tuesday morning was a tough one for me. There are just days that I miss Debbie even more than usual. I began to question why I was doing this journey at all and really didn't feel like going anywhere. I had made contact prior to the trip with SE who was a news anchor in Columbia and moved to Minneapolis. She had offered to show me around and, even though I didn't feel up for it, we met up around 1:30 that afternoon. After a delicious lunch we "did" Minneapolis. Walking all over town, she showed me the Target's world corporate headquarters, the venue where Prince (and many others) got their start, the new Vikings stadium where the Super Bowl will be played this season, a beautiful theater building overlooking the Mississippi River.
In addition to all the sights, we had some great conversation. Her father had passed away last October, very suddenly, after having been in Minneapolis two weeks before. We talked about the differences between sudden and expected loss, about losing a parent vs. losing a spouse, relying on family and friends for support and how unsupportive some people can be, even when they mean well. So many similarities, yet so many differences. It was a fun and profitable time and certainly improved the foul mood I was in that morning. Pics from that time are on Facebook.
The following day I bid 300 Clifton and Minneapolis adieu and had, to this point, the most arduous drive of the trip to New Carlisle, Indiana to see Courtney, Billy, Noelle (nearly 4 yrs. old) and Holly (nearly 2 yrs. old). The trip was made more challenging as I travelled through Chicago during afternoon rush hour. It was the most welcome arrival of the trip thus far because of the traffic and anxiety of trying to follow the GPS with all the construction going on.
The past five days at Courtney's have been great. New Carlisle is a sleepy, little town in northwest Indiana, about 2.5 hours east of Chicago, 20 minutes north of South Bend, fifteen minutes south of the Michigan border and about two minutes from corn fields in any direction. They live in a two story brick house that was built in 1887 on a corner lot with beautiful, old, dark knotty wooden floors. The house has been redone to include indoor plumbing with a bedroom being converted into a bathroom (footed tub in the middle of the room) and A/C on the second floor. The latter was key for my visit due to the 90+ degree heat that visited the area for the entire length of my stay! Billy has done incredible work in redoing gardens and landscaping that had obviously been long neglected. Their house seems to be a central play area for a lot of the neighborhood children (and their parents)!
Noelle and Holly are the grandchildren with whom I have had the least contact so it was great to spend time with them. They are adorable and growing so quickly. The last time I saw them was when Debbie and I visited last October when they were living in the Hyde Park area of Chicago. New Carlisle, the old, expansive house and the friends they have made suit their family much better than the 700 square foot, 6th floor apartment they lived in previously. Much of my stay was focused on playing with the kids, staying cool, eating and hanging out with Courtney and Billy and their friends and their kids. One day I took Courtney on a "how to shop Costco" trip along with getting my car serviced at the Toyota dealer ( I have put 5,000 miles on my car thus far on this trip!). Yesterday we all went to a little town in Michigan and had lunch and today, we went to South Bend to attend church at the Notre Dame Basilica. Although I'm not Catholic, I am always impressed with the reverence of their services. I also had to get a picture of "Touchdown Jesus".
Tomorrow is another goodbye and another adventure. I am beginning to reflect on the end of this trip and what comes next. My mission is to be in the center of God's will. I was reading out of James this week, a book that gives practical life advice. In James 1, he talks about how we should be joyful in facing trials as they strengthen our faith which causes us to persevere and become mature believers. In verses 5-6a he says "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt". Wisdom is seeing the world from God's perspective. So when I pray that God will show me His way for my life, I can count on an answer from Him as long as I believe in my heart of hearts that He will answer.
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| Wall Drug |
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| Touchdown Jesus! |
Love seeing you all together! <3
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