Accelerated Travel Schedule

“Feelings, and feelings, and feelings. Let me try thinking instead.” 

― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

Thinking  is good. Thinking is safe.

We got another call from the DH's sister telling us about the arrangements for his brother's funeral. It means a whirlwind of travel and a quick change of plans, but we welcome the chance to do something. We busy ourselves with packing one more small bag that will tide us over on this unexpected trip. We squeeze in one last hair cut, one last pedicure, one last trip to the bank, the pharmacy, the store. We make a hotel reservation in a little town we hadn't intended to visit right now. We finish all the last minute things we've been putting off till there's no more time before we start on our journey to meet the ship in LA.

Here's our new schedule:

• Thursday, Jan. 18th--Pick up #1 Daughter at her work in Columbia, MO around noon. We're so glad to have this time with her, but sad for the reason. We'll drive together to Waukon in northeast Iowa--all told a little over 500 miles from our town. The visitation at the funeral home will be from 3-9 PM. We hope to join the family for some of that time together. We'll begin to feel the loss again after our flurry of activity.
• Friday, Jan. 19th--Lynn's funeral will be held at 10:30 AM in the church he served so long and so faithfully. His was definitely a life worthy of celebration, but the service will be bitter-sweet. Following the service, there will be a luncheon for the family. We will have come from all over and this is our chance to reconnect. After lunch, the interment will be at the country churchyard of Sion Lutheran, the family's home church another 100 miles away. We'll have to  head back to Columbia (360 miles) to #1 Daughter's house instead.
• Saturday, Jan 20th--

  

  Big Lucy, Tiny Lu & Shoni

  Leisurely brunch with #1 Daughter, wife and pack of spoiled pups. The "granddogs" always make us smile. Then they'll take us to our hotel near the airport in St.Louis (about 110 miles) and hopefully get back home before dark. I worry when any of my kids travel on my account. Won't be able to relax till we get the text that says they arrived alive.
• Sunday, Jan 21st--All we have to do is get ourselves to the airport in time to catch our flight to LA.  We'll arrive on the west coast around 8:00 PM so we'll just collapse at the Grand Plaza near the pier.
• Monday, Jan 22nd--We board the Pacific Princess at 1:00 PM. And maybe then I'll believe this trip is really going to happen. 

I'm glad the cruise starts with almost a week of sea days. My DH deserves a week of napping in a deck chair. Of course, after the busyness of visitations and funerals and reconnecting with family is done, the feelings of sadness will come back. I'd appreciate your prayers for Lynn's wife Linda, his beautiful children and grandchildren, and the whole bewildered and bereft extended family. This is when one begins to ask "Why?" and I am forced to go back to C.S. Lewis.

“Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are in a mile? Is yellow square or round? Probably half the questions we ask - half our great theological and metaphysical problems - are like that.” 

― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed