Tonight after dinner we were out in the back yard. Lisa looked around and said, “I think we are outnumbered. She was right. We were out there among the Gerber daises and Butterfly bushes with my four granddaughters. Adair, Meleah, Anna and Julia. Plus we had Lisa’s two dogs out there too. We were definitely outnumbered. But it was fun and a joy to be out there picking Blueberries and Blackberries with them. That battle was fought for the past two days, just trying to get them all here.
This morning I had to be at work at 5AM. The good news was that I was through by around 9AM. I knew that I had to go down to the Peachtree Road Race Expo to pick up my race number. It opened at 10, and it was in one of the mart buildings right down town. I was going to try to see if the girls could make it up from Ft Lauderdale on one of the afternoon flights, so I figured that I would stay down near the airport if there was a chance that they could get on. After yesterday’s disaster, I was more hopeful, but not positive that they would get on today. I did think that they would make it tomorrow when Jennifer is coming up. But after work, I checked the flights and I couldn’t believe it. The 12:47 flight had gone from having 4 seats available to having over 100 seats available. Why! I had no clue, but I could tell that they had substituted a bigger plane than the one that was scheduled. This was perfect, and obviously an answer to prayer. So I called Sean and put the plan in motion to get them on that flight. That would put them in Atlanta around 2:30, early enough to miss the afternoon traffic: the Friday, Fourth of July weekend, afternoon traffic. Things were looking good, and I was excited.
Well, nothing ever goes as planned in the airline industry. I had gone to get my number for the race on the 4th. This will be my 30th Peachtree. I started running this race in 1980, and I missed one, in ’88. So this year 2010 is my 30th. I had planned on having a big family celebration. Julia had even talked about walking it. Her normal 4th of July routine was to get up and maybe try and see me on TV. She had never gotten up and gone down to watch it. I didn’t want her to do that. Now when I ran marathons, then I wanted her at the finish line of at all possible. But not for a 10K; and not in all the crowds. I had rather have her sleep in and enjoy the fourth. But this year we were going to celebrate. I’m still celebrating running 30 Peachtrees, just not as I had planned. Anyway, back to the girls flight. As I got down to StarBucks on Camp Creek, I had gotten my iced coffee, and was settling in for what I thought would be a short 2 hour wait. Then I talked to Sean and he said the plane was going to be delayed up to an hour longer. Suddenly the plan of staying down near the airport didn’t seem so good. I should have gone home right after I finished. Now it was too late, I was committed to being there. So, I just stayed around down near the airport. I went to lunch, sat in the car, played on the computer, anything to pass the time. Finally the girls got on and the plane was “only” 40 minutes late. Well, to make a long story short, they got there, and I was so glad to see both of them, and I could tell that they were grateful to finally be here as well.
Remember the Friday afternoon, Fourth of July weekend traffic, that I was going to miss. Guess what, I didn’t miss it. We got right out because their luggage was already here, from yesterdays trip to the airport. I think is was around 3:45 when we left the airport, and I was hopefull that we would not have any problems. Wrong again! The signs started talking about “very slow” traffic on I 75 N from I 285 until Chastain rd. I turned on “Abagale” my GPS with the British female voice. She carries lots of authority and started thinking about a detour around I 75. I got off at Cumberland Ave and I could see all the traffic on 75 slowing to a halt as I was exiting. I went over to 41, but as I figured, it was bumper to bumper also. What was I to do? After going for about a mile, I selected detour on the GPS. It guided me off 41 through back roads to Atlanta Rd and then to 120 I then got off 120. Anyway, I wound up being delayed about 20 minutes total, not bad. I figured that I saved at least 30 minutes by taking that detour. Shoot, I might still be on I 75.
When I picked the girls up, it was just so good to see them. As I was driving out of the parking lot my first thought was to “call Nana” and tell her we are on the way. That’s what I would have done. It’s wat I have done countless times. That thought just slipped in. Along with it almost instantly came the pain. I hadn’t felt it for a long time, but here it was. Nana wasn’t there, there wa no one to call. She wasn’t going to get to enjoy having all the family, or most all anyway, together this week. As I was driving, quiet tears, hidden by my sunglasses were flowing sown my cheeks. I could have rejected toe pain, pressed through and made myself not think about what we had. But that would deny the joy as well. No, I embraced the pain so that after it the joy of having her with me for so The joy of having them stay at our house and soending time with them. No, the joy is worth any pain. I think that is where people that are grieving miss it. It’s like a rose. You have to be willing to deal with the thorns to experience the beauty. People are spo afraid of hurting that they do anything to keep from hurting, but what they do to prevent the hurt also keeps them from experiencing the joy. I want the joy so much that I am willing to risk the pain.
So today, the pain was back for the first time in a long time. I embraced it, and it quickly turned into joy. So tonight I can sleep. Sleep with all of my granddaughters under one roof. Jennifer and Hernan fly in tomorrow. Sean can’t come. We have a great big family get together tomorrow afternoon. Truly Joy will come again in the morning. I thank Papa for showing me that I can deal with pain. It’s momentary, but His joy is everlasting.
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