Back at Dragons' Roost

 Our week in Illinois was wonderful!  

We did every meet up/gathering as safely as possible, and got to see everyone we set out to see, with the bonus of meeting up with one of my best friends, Jessie, and her wife, Carla, in Springfield, IL on the first leg of the trip.

They were headed down state from Michigan, and we were headed up, so we met in the middle.

We saw a couple of things, ate a lot of things, and I felt SO at home, and relaxed.  

My brother in law and sister had their basement bathroom fixed, so that we could be as separated as possible during our stay at their house.

Other than family (and I have an extra tale to tell about family below),  I got to see my friends Jessie and Carla, Margaret (who ALSO came down from Michigan), Nancy, and Felicia and Priscilla (my dance sisters), and their husbands.

There were about 12 other people I WOULD have liked to have seen, but with COVID, we kept it at a bare minimum.

I finally got to go to Fullersburg Nature Preserve, where I used to hike EVERY Sunday, year round.  That was my church...and I had not been there since before we moved me to OKC.  I got  part of the time there by myself....and it was glorious. 

There was also a visit to the family home, and I got to sit under the tree where I built my first  altar, even though I had no idea that it was an altar when I was a little girl....it was just my special place to hide.  I brought home two spruce cones, and a stick....

As usual, being back home, where everything is so clean and well-maintained,  really made me realize how much I dislike Oklahoma.  OH well... here I am, for the duration.

There was only one close call on the highway, and it was in Oklahoma (big effing surprise), when a semi almost plowed into us on the last leg of the journey this afternoon.  He wanted to get over, and didn't care one whit that we were already in the lane next to him.

This event put me into a FULL blown panic attack, with sobbing, hyperventilating, and the feeling that my ribs were closing in.  It was LOVELY!!

I actually couldn't speak until we got to the house.

Anyway, it was so good for my soul to be with my family.... to see them all, face to face, and to spend time with them.  

This includes my extra tale to tell.... we made a day trip to Iowa City to see my one remaining elder, Aunt Janet, the sister of my dad.  

She's the only one left of her generation of the family, and is 93 years old.  After my dad passed, she used to come to Illinois to visit us (check on us?) every year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Her visits to see us were SO precious to us!!

But... I moved away, and had to miss the last few of those treks that she made, before she was unable to travel like that anymore.

So, our drive to Iowa was a VERY special side trip!!  

We went out for lunch, and to explore the beautiful Iowa countryside.

And....I gave her the journals that her mother wrote between 1909 and 1914.... which she said she didn't even know existed.

It made my heart swell with joy to place them in her hands... and to see the wonder on her face when she opened one, and saw her own mother's youthful handwriting for the first time.... I can't describe it.

...but that's a different story for a different time.

I'll be honest.  Last year, I thought my nuclear family might never see each other again.  Not all of us, together.

I thought it was possible - or even LIKELY- that one of us, or more than one of us, would get COVID-- and die.  

I, honestly, figured it would be me that would die, or Dave....and that I would never get to Chicagoland again, since I hate flying, and can't imagine myself driving up there alone.

I did really well at managing my emotions, though, as I am a very emotional person.  

I did not weep (well, except when Jessie and I saw each other for the first time).. and I mean WEEP, until we passed over the state line back into Missouri on the way back yesterday (don't take the near death panic attack into consideration, as it is unrelated).

While the "arch" is my "gateway to Illinois" on the way UP, it's my exit from Illinois on the way back... a symbolic "leaving behind" of all the people, and places, and things that I love about... home.

And, frankly, Illinois will always be home.  

Always.