Big, busy weekend

My sophomore college roommate came to visit yesterday, the first time we’ve seen each other since our 20th reunion 25 years ago. She lives in Chattanooga, TN, mother of 3 and grandmother of 10, and a retired nurse practitioner. Fifty years ago we sang together as freshmen in a group called The Master Key at the Baptist Student Union, and we were sorority sisters, too. We’ve stayed in touch with Christmas letters and occasional mid-year contact, but even so, we were able to pick up almost as though we talked every day, and it was wonderful. We stayed up and talked and talked last night, looking up people we remembered but weren’t quite sure about surnames. C’mon, it’s been a very long time. We were lucky to remember first names.

This morning we did two big things that were connected – for the first time in almost a year, I got in and out of a car and went to church. Carol cared for her father in his last years and he was also in a wheelchair with legs he couldn’t move. With that and her nursing background, she was the perfect person to help me navigate getting from the wheelchair to the front seat of the car. Fortunately for me, she was driving a Toyota Corollo, not an SUV, and the seat actually felt very low but at least I could get into it. Then we did it in reverse at the church giving me a chance to be in church for the first time in a year. It was wonderful and soul nourishing, and I was especially glad I was able to see Fr. Matt before he leaves Tyler for a new rectorship in Autin.

So now I know I can do it. SUV’s are probably still too tall for me to try and get into – I had enough trouble doing that when my legs were working properly. But if someone has a car instead, I think I can get into it with help. Not to mention dealing with the wheelchair, which fortunately is very lightweight. We just need to have a nice large trunk for it. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get out for some other activities soon.

I cooked for the visit, making a big pot of meat sauce in the crockpot with Italian sausage, ground beef, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and garlic, tossing in some egg noodles to cook in the sauce the last 30 minutes. We had salads from the dining room and fresh fruit with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. This morning we had my famous sour cream coffee cake with fresh fruit. Best part is that I have lots of leftovers, which will be wonderful. I really enjoy cooking and rarely do it now that I have a dining room for daily meals, so I was glad to have a reason to do it, and to have a chance to show myself that I can still do things I used to do all the time.