Our last morning in Berlin we ate whole cardamom buns for breakfast and Christy got us on the train to the airport. We had our carry ons checked, compliments of Air France and have learned how we can get on the plane with group one. We tell them our age and they say ‘Welcome aboard’. It was a late night arriving home at 11:30
Tuesday was an unpack, do laundry, get groceries, make granola day. I cleaned the freezer and planned our meals using what we have for our last 2 weeks in Chalon. The next three days we cleaned windows, kitchen cupboards, wallpaper, the oven, and the wooden dining chairs. Also helped the elders start cleaning their cupboards. I threw out three frying pans, chipped dishes, spices from 2021 and many things they have never used.
I have been thinking about 3 different things this week. Who are we going to include in our visit to Utah? What is going to Avignon (packed separately) via the mission home, what are we taking to Florida that stays there and what activities are we planning for the family reunions in Canada? We have started packing. Third, how do we best support those who are dealing with heartbreaking challenges?
Today was one of my hardest goodbyes with the widow I have loved since the first time Tom took her the sacrament. For ten years she has only left her house in an ambulance. She speaks French and mine is very limited but somehow we connected. She actually stood up so we could hug and weep on on each others shoulders. I will miss our visits and the sacred times we shared spirit to spirit. It reminded me of saying goodbye to the couples in Rochester who stayed to clean up after our going away party. I could not speak, only hug and cry. We had invested 30 years of our lives there and raised our children there and were leaving it behind. How we love and remember those dear friends. That was 17 years ago and Tom and I have lived several different lifetimes since.
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