Minnesota

Southwest flies to Minnesota now but It takes all day and you go by way of China. You think I'm kidding - don't you? I also needed Laurel's parking karma because when when we got to Minnesota there was no place to "park". The pilot had to keep circling (don't worry, we circled down over Iowa!) The weather was really bad and too many planes were trying to do the same thing we were - LAND! You know I'm desperate when I ask for a parachute. And I was serious. I had recently watched the NCIS episode...I didn't care what the results would be. I just was in a claustrophic, legs feel folded up under me for too long state of mind. The 17-year olds sitting by me thought it was a good idea too. That's actually what snapped me back to reality.

I've travelled to Minnesota for my father's memorial service. And speaking of reality... The house feels so empty and yet so full of my father. I finally figured it out last night. It is empty of his physical sense of being but his spirit is here. The only way I've ever been able to express this feeling is that it is like an umbrella. His protection, his love enveloping the house. I have tried to prepare for the reality of his passing. I decided there was no way and the closer I got to home, I told myself to just relax and feel and gave myself permission for whatever came.

With each moment, I'm just grateful for the gospel and for my father's example. I have found one common thread as we've all talked about dreams we've had of him. He is whole. My mother says he embraces her in her dreams with two arms. Oh, how happy he must be to feel whole. His body may have held him back in this life but his spirit has always soared. For so long his body was riddled with the effects of polio. He fought hard to do so much in this life. I am in constant awe of all that he has done. I am the luckiest and most blessed of daughters.