The NURSES!!

It's been 40 years since we graduated from nursing school. (OK, so I was very young then...which means I'm very young now. Deal with it).

This last weekend was our class reunion. Out of a graduating class of 53, 22 attended -- most of us from the midwest, but from as far west as Portland, Oregon, as far east as Raleigh, NC -- as far south as GA, from the southwest -- Phoenix, AZ -- and one from Germany.

We had an amazing time together -- mostly hanging out and sharing about our lives, our work, our families, our grandbabies....

Becky has been persistent at keeping our class together -- yearly newsletters and reunions every 5 years, making this our 8th get together. Mary (with husband Jim) does the photography and puts together our little remembrances. This year was a gorgeous magnet with our class verse -- Deuteronomy 31:6 -- "Be strong and of good courage; fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God goes with you; he will not fail you nor will he forsake you." What do I do, you ask? As someone once pointed out, I fill up the spaces inbetween the important things that are said...and I'm the writer. Guess they go hand in hand. This year, Cindy joined us in reunion planning - she made phone calls, sent e-mails, and worked on the centerpieces with Mary.

Jim took our photo on Saturday night out in one of the lobbies of Pheasant Run where we were meeting. The elevator door opened and a man exited with his wife. "Oh look!" he cried, "It's the NURSES!!" And he took our picture as well.

At the 35th reunion, Becky, Mary and I worked at scanning pictures and put together a powerpoint (OK, MARY put it together) complete with music which started with pictures from our three years at WSH, then moved on to pictures from each of the reunions. Mary updated it for this reunion -- it was wonderful. True confession -- we have changed just a little bit in 43 years!!

There is nothing more solidifying or bonding than a three year, diploma nursing program where you live, work, eat & play together at the hospital. Most of us came from outside IL, including 8 from outside the US, so we didn't have the opportunity to go home frequently -- and that bonded us together even more closely.

It's really evident when we meet at these reunions.

God continues to be faithful -- and he is good -- through the hard times...through the bad times....and through the good times.

Great is His Faithfulness!!

CicadaFest -- Or is it?

"The Cicadas are COMING!" We've been warned about this for seemingly months. Yes, it is 17 years since the last CicadaFest, but despite the hype, we didn't see any then...and believe it or not, this year we've seen 5, maybe 6 dead ones, and 3 of the little beasties up close and personal.
That is not to say they aren't around. They just aren't here. In our town. Old Wheaton. Our next door neighbor town, Glen Ellyn is truly infested -- drive through town with your car windows rolled up, the ac at max and the sound is still deafening. Not to mention the crunch underfoot when you walk your dog.

Apparently planned outdoor weddings have been ruined by the cicadas' siren screech. Picnics have had to be moved. Outdoor activities are being kept to a minimum (of course, the 95 degree weather we've been experiencing might have something to do with it).

We must have some here -- we can hear them when we sit on our deck, but when we walk around the block, it gets pretty quiet. But they've been so few and far between that we've actually been able to count them.

Suggestion: if you are planning an outdoor wedding for this time 17 years from now when the plague of locusts will hit yet again, plan to have it in Wheaton.

Evidently, when it comes to plagues like this, Wheaton is the Land of Goshen.

Parle vous Francais?

It's been two weeks of immersion in French. Tim doesn't think he "parle vous" very well -- but evidently well enough that he can carry on a semi deep discussion with JP about global warming and the Kyoto Treaty.

Not bad for two weeks.

Only two spills with the bike thus far.

Our boxes got to him -- Jen & I packed a bunch of goodies with the J Crew pants he ordered the day before he left -- some crackers, frosted mini-wheat cereal, Mike & Ikes, gummy worms, a movie and a CD; a couple of books, another converter, a little plastic pet (a scorpion) that he'll have to take care of, some Legos....all that really important stuff to remind one of home.

Then I panicked over him using his Mac with the converter we sent, and high tailed it over to the Apple store to get a *real* converter. Why we didn't think of that when we BOUGHT the silly thing, I'll never know....

Anyway, both the boxes arrived -- the Mac converter on Wednesday, the big box on Thursday. He's charged up the computer and is now able to watch some movies.

Today he's in Geneva Switzerland on an excursion with the school.

I am going to Indiana.

Geneva, Switzerland....Indiana, USA.

At least I won't have to parle Francais.

London to Chambery

According to all reports, Tim had a great time visiting with friend Aaron in London. He said they didn't do much sightseeing except for St. Paul's Cathedral -- just hung out, walked around, and hit the pubs. He & Aaron did have dinner with Helen Clare, Adam and Adam's parents on his last night there...he even talked to Rosie & Rob!! (Such a deal, my sister getting to talk to him before I did!!)

I miss him.

He called from Heathrow at about 2:45 am (his time). He was spending the night there in order to catch his flight to Lyon the next morning -- too far& too early from Aaron's flat to get a train. He sounded tired, but excited. The phone call that came at 7:00 Sunday morning -- he didn't sound quite so excited. He was exhausted -- had not slept well at the airport and got to Lyon -- only to find out the only method of transport to Chambery wasn't going to happen until 4:00 that afternoon -- AND, by the way, did I have the name and phone number of his host? He couldn't find it....

Fast forward to my next communication with him...he never did get in contact with JP (our name for his host) as JP never answered the phone. Did Tim not dial correctly? Did I give him the wrong number? Did the school give us the wrong number? We'll probably never know. Suffice it to say that JP wasn't there to meet him at the bus station when he got to Chambery, so after another fruitless phone calls to JP and to the emergency number at the school which no one answered, Tim decided to take a cab. Easier said than done when you don't speak a lick of French. Picture Tim wandering around the (hot) town with his backpack, briefcase, duffel without wheels and duffel with wheels, trying to find a cab. Tired, hot, frustrated and just a tad homesick, Tim finally arrived at JP's -- to be ripped off by the cab driver claming he had no change for the 10 euro bill Tim proffered -- only to find a rather annoyed JP wondering why Tim hadn't called!!!

Dinner was interesting -- JP only speaks a few words of English, but his partner (!!) is pretty proficient, so they were able to communicate. And Tim had an opportunity to briefly present the gospel. JP & his partner practice Sufinism (you'll have to check that out on Wikipedia) and live a very minimalist lifestyle - no TV, no internet -- bake their own bread, grow their own vegetables -- no frills. Tim doesn't miss the TV, but he sorely misses having internet access. He is able to e-mail briefly from the school, but there are only a few computers and a lot of students wanting to do the same thing.

I really miss him.

He's rented a bike which is cheaper than taking the bus every day -- and presumably, since he's now been in school 7 days all together, he's becoming a bit more proficient at rudimentary French. That means he probably can find the loo, and order a bit more than green beans and cheese for his lunch. JP speaks a little Spanish, so when they find themselves not able to communicate with Tim's limited French and JP's limited English, they resort to Spanish. He did say that Spanish keeps popping into his head whenever he is supposed to speak French -- and he is missing Spanish terribly. "I LOVE Spanish" he said when we had a nice long conversation last Tuesday afternoon.

He's the only American in his class, and knows the least French. He said he was the first one done with the exam the first day. It was easy since he didn't know anything. He was also supposed to take an oral exam -- he walked in and said, "let me make this easy for you. I don't know a single word of French." So he got more time on the computer...

I've not had a chance to talk to him since his first weekend in Chambery, but he e-mailed briefly to tell me he has some stories -- I'll just bet he does!! I'm eager to get pictures, but that probably won't happen until Tim gets the adaptor for his MacBook which SHOULD get there by Friday, Lord willing and the US/French postal system doesn't fail us.

Have I mentioned that I miss him?

Sigh.

From "Glimpses of Grace"

by Madeleine L'Engle.

"Mother, why do people all the time try to pull God down so He's small enough to be understood?"

Excerpt from A Winter's Love