We're settling down in our motel room in Coeur d'Alene after a day offroad. I spent the morning at the hospital with Matthew while Phyllis got a little extra sleep. When I got back to the room around noon, she had all of our laundry done. We went for a long walk along the lakefront under dazzling sun and then came back to the room to do paperwork and trip planning.The whole family is bearing up under some strain right now. Both of Alice's parents (Alice is Matthew's wife) are in crisis- they have been up here visiting all summer and now having medical things going on - and Alice's brother had come up from CA to be of help with their dad. Alice needed to get him back to the airport, and then when Matthew was finally released late this afternoon, Alice's mother had taken severely ill and Alice had to go with her to the ER, so we ended up loading Matthew and all his stuff into the little car and bringing him home. We visited some more and watched some videos of my niece Kaci and her dance troupe which competes all over the country.
After some hours the family began to gather a bit, and Kaci, Phyllis & I went out to fetch some Chinese food since that's what sounded good to Matthew after a couple of weeks of hospital food. In an unfortunate incident involving a hot grill and chili oil, the chef inadvertently napalmed the restaurant and our lungs are still burning. It was awful. It didn't keep us from our dinner though. We looked through some photos and then once Josh got there (his fiancee's parents were arriving by plane this evening) we took a few photos and then I said goodbye to the family.
I am sad tonight but I am so grateful that Matthew is home, feeling and looking well, and that he has a supportive workplace - the university has told him not to worry about sick leave, and so he will have the entire semester to recover and heal, and not worry about going back to work until after the Christmas holidays. I'm also glad to have spent a little time with my niece and nephew, and to meet the remarkable young woman that Josh will marry this weekend. And I am grateful for a traveling companion who takes all of this in stride. I believe she felt welcomed and loved by my family and her help in all this was such a relief to have.
We need to settle down and rest, and hit the road in the morning. For those tracking us, our path from here is straight north through Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry, to the Eastport crossing into British Columbia, then work our way generally east back into Alberta and pitching north to Calgary. We'll overnight there, and then the next morning once we make Edmonton, our detour is completed, and we are back on our original route for home. [Postscript: Here is my beautiful family just a few days later. You can't even see the wires holding the groom's father together.]
Peg and Phyllis
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Phyllis remembers:
A lovely day with a bright daytime walk around one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen, and we were even able to be helpful by getting Matthew home while Alice tended to her mother. Between a sick husband, sick father, sick mother, and a wedding in mere days, Alice has impressed me no end. Most people, including me, would fall apart in the face of so much to deal with simultaneously. Not Alice.
It was wonderful to see their home, meet the dogs, and just hang out and chat. Despite the truly awful napalm incident (see previous reference to my asthma and smoke; I was standing behind Peg and Kaci when Peg turned to me and said "are you all right?" And I said sure, why shouldn't I be?" when the smoke hit. I ran out like a dog after a rabbit, leaving Peg and Kaci to have a little quality time alone).
I have rarely been so impressed by any family as I was by Matthew's. Or by The Owl. What a diner!
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