Wednesday, June 10, 2026
"Cmon, the rental car is parked close by," W says, grabbing our 2 heavy suitcases from the baggage carousel in SEA-TAC. "It will take us 10 minutes, and waiting for a shuttle will take even longer."
I'm never sure what "close" means since he's vigorous and doesn't estimate time or distance well. We pass a bus getting its tire changed. In less than 10 minutes, we are at the car. Whew.
I'd forgotten all the kinds of hydrangeas that bloom here.
They are blue or pink, depending on the acidity of the soil.
The grandkids and their parents come down to welcome us as we arrive from the airport. Leaving family behind is the highest cost of living abroad. Hugs and happy greetings are shared all around. During the first years when we visited, we bought a small gift for each child for each day. Eventually, their parents said, "Please don't! They have too much stuff already." (Don't we all!)
It's always a relief to walk into our basement flat. Our son checks that all is ready, bug-free, and clean. He turns on the heat. This trip, we are not back for long enough to unpack. W lines up 5 suitcases along the walls. He designates two for Indonesia. Those fill up quickly. I pull the day's clothing out of another. What visual clutter. I block. And block it out again.
Our Seattle base is neither big nor small, but efficient. It's more than enough for our annual drop-ins. The living room has facing sofas. One sofa becomes our bed each evening. When W works on his computer during the day, he sits on the other one.
2 bedrooms serve as our offices. Mine becomes a guest bedroom, with the same fold-down IKEA Beddinge sofabed as in the living room. Last year, we sold the old piano with its wonderful resonance and put my Kawai into the office.
The kitchen and dining area are used for tea parties with the grandkids and occasional meals.
The original plan for a light-filled shower in the bathroom was altered by the builder = the bathroom is bright but the shower is dark and uninviting. There's a walk-in closet/laundry, storage under the stairs, and storage under the garage. It's perfect for us. We fall into bed with relief in our "home away from home."
ThursdayWe leave Seattle at 6AM to drive up to Canada to see Mom. It's a beautiful landscape through mountains and then along farm fields.
Mom has been on palliative care since December. Canada offers free medicine and at-home medical clinic advisors for end-of-life patients. But palliative care expires in 6 months, so Mom's has been renewed.
Sandi, the overseer of her carers, plans Mom's medication so she is at her most lucid while we are there. Mom grips both my hands fiercely - she's always had strong hands. She is absorbed in the joy that lies before her. She reminds me several times that God is always good. That she is grateful for her carers and for her life. (What a gift Sandi and the other caregivers have given us all! We can't thank them enough.)
Mom's face is radiant with joyful anticipation. She looks forward to going Home and says we shall meet again. "Soon I will be gone from here but I'll see you again. I can't wait to see Jesus. I'm going to jump up and down before him and say, 'Thank you! Thank you for saving me.'"
I have to smile. She's never been a jumper or athlete - but I can imagine the day she comes face to face with her Savior. She loves the scriptures and knows them well. Her faith is both childlike and mature, deepening over a lifetime of faithful obedience. She's ready for heaven.
We pray together for each member of the family. Before we leave, my brothers and I agree on the next step for pain relief. Norm, who lives in town, has carried the load of her illness He and Sandi have great favor with the doctor. Instead of waiting through the weekend for a visit from the clinic staff, they come within hours to install an IV. Mom doesn't have to die in a hospital; she will transition to heaven from home.
We go to lunch with W's mom and sister. It's another sweet visit. Thea chooses her favorite restaurant,
Newlands Golf Course. We are all disappointed when her favorite dish - Pacific salmon - is missing. She asks W questions about faith and works, the balance of knowing, being, and doing. It's wonderful to see the focus of age on what truly matters.
Next to us, a Red Hat women's lunch is in full cry. I ask if I can take pictures and air-drop them to a participant's phone.
"I'm the queen bee, so you have permission," remarks the lady closest to our table. "By the way, we're not always this happy. We've had our share of squabbles over the years, but today we are at peace." That makes me laugh.
Our next stop is tea with dear friends Lynette and Leroy. Lynette sends along Spekalaas cookies and her almond bread (YUM). We joke that everyone used to drive past Lynden until the Johnsons moved there; now we all stop in to say hello to these former university colleagues. They are at the heart of many friendships.
On a side trip to Nordstrom's Rack, W finds his birthday present: elegant black leather shoes. His last pair of dress shoes ("they're still good,") are 15 years old.
All 4 grandkids pile in the car while Opa turns it around for easy exit from the driveway. We laugh at their happy faces on this smallest-of-trips.
Friday, Waldemar's birthday
Melissa prepares an amazing breakfast feast: egg sandwiches, bacon, fruit, and cinnamon rolls. Young Levi has mastered sourdough and his fresh bread is better than a bakery's. We haven't been in Seattle in June for 12 years so being back for W's birthday is a rare treat.
Kim and I meet in the morning at our old stomping ground, Lake Forest Park's Third Place Commons. She's a wise mentor and advisor as well as one of my closest friends. Today she is my funny, compassionate, and intelligent gift to myself. Love you, Kim!
W picks me up to meet with Rich. He was my piano student for over a decade. He joined us for supper once a week, along with another adult student. We haven't seen each other in years.
We catch up and pray for him over a delicious dim sum lunch at Top Gun near Factoria. The sticky rice is as good as we remember, but the portions are huge.
Timothy orders Little Caesar's pizzas for supper.
W takes along the grandkids to pick up the pizzas.
After supper, we take the boys on a walk. W only wants to go around the block. I need more of a stretch than that. We start out in the woods that surround the house. The hike up the driveway is steep.
The neighbor's trees have grown across the driveway, shading the apple trees we espaliered 30 years ago. Now they hardly bear fruit. "Sometimes people even come and pick the apples off," Levi says indignantly.
For 12 years, I haven't smelled the fragrant flowers at the top of the block. The shrub blooms only in June. I pluck off a short stem and inhale. And inhale. Such sweetness. I've been gone long enough to forget its name.
W and the boys head home while I finish the 2-mile loop. Lavender is waving along the sidewalk. I stroke the leaves to sniff the relaxing oils.
Wild roses bloom alongside.
The crabapples are ripening.
There's June color on every side.
I brought seed for these hot-pink, silver-leafed biennials to Indonesia one year, but they never germinated. They need frost and cold between growing seasons. Maybe some of us are like that.
These daisies remind me of the ones that popped up in Mom's garden year after year.
Tall "Paintbrush" spires wave in the evening breeze.
White and blue delphiniums are in bloom, too.
A few rabbits are hopping along in the yards. Living close to a greenbelt means all kinds of creatures roam nearby: raccoons, deer, coyotes, and more.
A 20-foot "feather tree" is close enough to stroke as I walk by.
I stroll through typical Seattle neighborhoods, with houses covered in wood or concrete siding that is painted dull grey, black, or blue.
Look at the dogwoods!
This dogwood tree has erupted in white clouds of 4" flowers.
Just before I walk down our driveway, I snap a photo of the trees beside the neighbor's driveway, growing in the swale beside the road. They block the view of cars coming up the hill and must be removed.
* Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted, but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-31Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2
Moravian Prayer: Jesus, you call us to continue the work you started here on earth: to find the lost, to heal the sick, to clothe the naked, and to visit the prisoner. Give us the strength to carry on this important and vital work. Amen.
