Have you ever been reunited with lifelong friends after being away for many years and feel like you haven’t skipped a beat? Have you ever travelled back to a location and felt a strong connection and a flood of memories?
That’s exactly what happened to David and me last week as we travelled back to Southeast Texas for a book signing event. We were showered with Southern hospitality at it’s very best!
Our trip began with a reunion with one of David’s Burn Unit nurses who took care of him over sixteen years ago
with great compassion. We hadn’t seen Nurse Rachel for about 8 years and had lost touch with her. Recently, we reconnected on social media and we’re so very grateful that we had the chance to meet up with her for breakfast. We vowed to try to stay in touch.
As we got back in our rental car, we debated about the route we’d take back to the Beaumont area. We could go back through the crazy traffic of Houston or we could take a longer route through Galveston Island. It was an absolutely beautiful day of sunshine and 80 degrees so we chose to head towards the beach. We had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and indulged on more shrimp than might be humanly possible. Then we boarded the ferry. This is the very same ferry that I’d have to take when David was in the Burn Unit and I travelled back to our home to visit with our kids. It always felt like the ferry was a place of transition for me- a place where I’d have to trade my wife hat for my mom hat, when I struggled to meet the needs of my family. David and I waited for the ferry to get loaded and then we got out of our car and smelled the salty air and we were able to catch glimpses of the dolphins that live in the bay. Sighting these creatures always brought us a sense of hope and that day was no different. It was a reminder of all that our family has been through.
We drove for a while, with the Gulf of Mexico just feet away from the roadway and the aftermath of the last hurricane still visible.
David pulled the car over to the side of the road as we came up to the small coastline town of High Island. This is close to the same place that we stopped after an appointment with a hand surgeon that gave us a dose of reality. Back when we hoped a surgeon could perform magic and make David’s hands function like they did before his accident. However, this doctor told us David’s hands would never be the same and our new reality started to fall upon us. That day, we stopped on this stretch of road and we both grieved the many losses we’d experienced. We found ourselves crying and embracing and sharing very few words as we processed what we’d been told. So last week, when David pulled the car over and we got out to search for shells, neither of us shared what the other was feeling- but we were both reminiscing and thinking back to that day so many years ago when we were afraid, confused and exhausted. And while things never went back to what they were before David’s accident, we’ve been able to find new ways to move on and we’ve created a beautiful thing out of a mess. While this place brings back many mixed emotions, it also signifies healing and a sense of comfort.
Later in the week, we were able to meet up with some of David’s former co-workers and their wives for an
amazing dinner. We haven’t seen some of them for many years so it also was a type of reunion. One man in particular kept coming up to us during the evening and said, “I’m just so glad to see that you both are doing so well.” It reminded us that some people that were a part of our lives all those years ago had lost touch with us and had been wondering how we were doing. They remembered the broken couple who was just learning to put one foot in front of the other and last week I hope they saw a couple who has learned to embrace life, regardless of what life throws at them.
David and I shared our story at the church we used to attend with our family when we lived in Texas. You want to talk about a reunion! Wow! The friends we have there always shower us with love and no matter how long it’s been between our visits, it never gets awkward- it just feels like home! These are the people who held up our family in prayer and who comforted and supported us while David was hospitalized and after he came home. They watched our children, they prepared meals, they did yardwork, they accepted us…. The list goes on. These people were the body of Christ to us!
Last week we were able to reconnect with many friends, neighbors and co-workers. Some even drove for 5 hours to surprise us! It amazes me, how a certain place can still feel like “home” even when we only lived there for seven years and even though we’ve not lived there for thirteen years. The relationships and love we’ve built with friends will, no doubt, last a lifetime.
Do you have a special place that feels like home to you?
Do you have friendships that span the test of time or many miles?
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