Going home

On Saturday, June 3 Max went to be with Jesus in heaven. He's home now. Healed and whole. However, this passing necessitated my own trip.

Last weekend I flew to Edmonton to be at Max's memorial. His mom was my roommate for awhile in the mid-late eighties, and I couldn't even consider not being there for them. Since that part of my life was a pivotal time, where I learned and grew substantially towards the person I am now, it definitely felt like I was going home. And I said as much.


I am so blessed to have these friendships that can be picked up after long periods of silence and not skip a single beat. I stayed with my friend Sherr and we chatted until the wee hours every night, drinking pots and pots of tea. While we've all walked different paths, it's comforting to know that we're still mostly the same at the core of who we are. I mean, these people EXPECTED me to notice grammar and make bad puns!

Sherr still drinks gallons of tea, has a dozen or more projects on the go, and dispenses advice to me as though I were still 20. And I love her for it. I know I'm always welcome there. It was in her home and around her table that I learned about the value of hospitality and relationship. And I can still find it there.

Carol (Max's mom) is an amazing woman. She put up with a lot of immature crap from me way back when, but we sure had a lot of fun. I got to visit some other friends from that time and when Andreas walked in the house the first thing he asked was about the time we were playing road leap frog and Carol and I were surfing on top of her car! Oh, and then he had to come back and pick us up because we broke the timing chain making that stop... *sigh* youth...


We sat around visiting on Saturday night (0ur only chance - I had a 6:30 flight home the next morning) and Carol was quoting some comedy routine. Total deadpan delivery. I miss her. A lot. Here, after (or during, I suppose) all that they've walked through, still beats the sensitive, creative, funny heart of the woman I once spent most of my time hangin' out with. (yes, I just ended that sentence with a preposition...)

On some level, I was home.

Speaking of going home...

Colleen is home now. She's had her cervix stitched and things are looking good for this pregnancy. Come on baby! We're waiting for you!

And on the subject of babies...

My sister is four weeks from her due date and carrying a rather large boy - so an early delivery would not be a particularly bad thing. Keep her in your prayers too.