Doug, Isaac and I traveled to O-town on Saturday to visit with my interwebby friend Tia and her girls. (You can click on her name to visit her blog.)
Saturday was our first real taste of fall here in central Florida. The temperatures were mild (in the mid-70s) and it was overcast and very windy. With the exception of hurricanes, we do not have many blustery days, and that makes them so much more enjoyable to us! And, of course, makes us think of Winnie the Pooh and his blustery day!
Tia, Mog, the Little Princess and Mary met us in the lobby of their hotel…all of us smiling and hugging and shaking hands in greeting. The Little Princess was in her very impressive Land Rover chair and helped us keep up a good pace when we headed down the hotel corridors. Really, it was an amazing little electric wheelchair that she has for traveling. God bless the mind that created such a cool, little chair for the adorable little people who need them.
Mog was in rare form, telling us about her upcoming shopping trip via her Talking Book. It is an amazing notebook that Tia has put together, with what I can only think to call "Question Trees."
Tia went through 3 or 4 main questions, and Mog immediately let us know when we had hit upon the one she had an answer to. Tia kept asking "yes" and "no" questions, until we had sifted out the ones Mog was not interested in. Finally we hit "pay dirt", so to speak, when we asked if she had chosen a name for her new sock monkey!
She had chosen a name!
A few more questions were asked, and to MY utter delight, she wanted to name her little monkey "Alesha". I'll tell you – I was quite honored. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Our sweet friends brought us some sweet gifts. This lovely orange marmalade is from the Women's Institute:
I asked if I should bake some scones to have with my marmalade, and was told no, but to eat it on toast, like Paddington Bear. 🙂
They also brought along some lovely teas for us: Yorkshire Gold (a black tea) and Clipper (a loose leaf green tea).
All very English gifts, weren't they? We were so tickled to receive them. My religiously-soda-drinking husband has had tea TWO mornings in a row, and has already looked to see if the Yorkshire Gold is available in the states. I am amazed, Tia!!! I never would have guessed how much he would like this tea! 🙂
Honestly, though, much more special than any gifts they could have brought, was the sweet time of fellowship and visiting. We stay for over 2 hours, and really, would have been happy to stay longer, but little ones needed medications and changes of position and tea and so forth; and so we made our way home with happy, full hearts.
The best part? Hearing voices pronounce names we had only read in print, hugging friends we had never seen, seeing smiles next to us that previously only beamed at us from our computer screen, and communicating with little ones who have become so special to us over the years.
While I hope that this meeting was not a once-in-a-lifetime gathering, in all truth, it just might have been. I am so grateful for the time we spent together with Tia and the girls.
Our lives are far richer because of your friendships!
Blessings,
Alesha
Obtaining Mercy 