Dear Family,
I must admit a
disturbing conversation I had with Seth on the way to Portland. I asked him to
promise to never get a mullet hair cut. Seth refused. He wants autonomy for
this simple act. I still feel a little nauseated thinking about it.
Celebrating is
fun and can be dangerous. Bobby Seth and I enjoyed going to Portland to
celebrate Adriel turning 25 and graduating from college. She thought turning 25
was a huge deal. College – meh, she’s just glad it’s over and the diploma came
in the mail. I remember feeling the same way. It was funny.
The danger
started when Adriel wanted to get food from a restaurant and then sit on a
pier. I started applying sun screen after we ordered and before we left. I
asked Seth, “Do you see any white on me?” and pointed to my skin. Seth was not
impressed, “Mom, you are white, I don’t think I can help you with this one.” I
smiled and took some more sun screen and smeared it on my neck without rubbing
it in. “How about any white like that?” Seth replied, “Oh.” He looked more
analytically and then, “No, I don’t see any, you are good.”
I believe Adriel
was sharing a favorite, special place with us. Boy was it scary. We walked past
many people who don’t have homes and several who were bathing in a water
fountain. We went down a narrow ramp to a pier that was broken in several
places. It was a beautiful view as long as we didn’t look behind us to those
poor people – humans – who are unfortunate. I was very glad to get back to Adriel’s
apartment before sundown.
While
in Adriel’s apartment one thing we entrusted Adriel with were her medical
records. Interestingly she went through the documents page by page and reminisced
about each incident. “Oh, this is when I bit the dentist.” Immunizations had a
comment from me, “The look of betrayal in your baby eyes was so traumatic dad
had to take you to the rest of your immunizations. Seth’s were also all handled
by dad.” Adriel even mentioned, “So that’s how much it cost to have a baby back
then.” She looked at prices, events and then commented how fortunate she is to
have such a small file. She used to look through medical records as a paralegal
for insurance. It sure was interesting to go through them all again. It was
like reliving her life. Frame by medical frame.
The
next day was middle school group. Bobby spoke about how Onesiphorus found Paul
in Rome and how it isn’t easy to find people in new places. This brought up a
story about how he found my Uncle in Italy while we were there on vacation. One
student thought that was very creepy. Bobby had to mention he did know the name
of the building they were staying at so that helped. The student insisted on
their first take – still creepy that Bobby found a person – stalker like.
Since
we were talking about Italy a story of how my desire to be frugal, my lack of
the language and my desperation led to a misunderstanding. I wanted water from
the tap. I didn’t want to pay $3 for a bottle. The waiter did not understand.
Finally I mentioned, “Toilet water?” That only brought a huge look of horror on
the waiters face. Bottled water it was. Sigh. Our youth enjoyed that story.
The
game time was fun as well. “Will you be my friend?” “No, all my friends . . . .
wear black, have crocks on. . . and my favorite . . . all my friends aren’t as
cool as Rich.” We all knew to jump up and grab a new seat – it was unanimous
and fun.
The
high school group was also enjoyable. When Bobby asked, “Does anyone know where
Ephesus is?” One person shouted out, “Japan!”
Later
when Bobby mentioned we were going to talk about “Onesiphorus.” Someone said, “I
love that name, I’m going to call my kid that!” Another countered with chagrin,
“No, you can’t name your kid that! Everyone will nickname them ‘Onsie!’”
And
a favorite of mine – the fill in the blank. The answers came rapid fire for
this one, “Onesiphorus visited Rome while Paul was i_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.” The firs answer
seemed right to me “Incarcerated” but it didn’t fit. Next was, “In jail” but
that’s two words. Imprisoned was the right word. l
It’s
really fun to watch people grow. Today Seth took some time out to cook lasagna
with me. He wanted to get a ruler out and do precise measurements. He was OK
with my – pouring ½ of this and 1/6th of that. He would do it
differently though – but since we were cooking together (and we already know he
likes my lasagna) he was fine with my ways. If he does this alone though – he will
do it more precisely.
I’m
so thankful for friends and family. Thank you for your love and interest. May God’s
words always be a gentle guide for your actions and words. Hugs,
Cristy
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