Sunday, June 17, 2012

Life Unexpected

Trying out an iPhone post:

Yesterday morning The Quiet Husband and I and Karen West and her husband walked a quiet beach encrusted with barnacles and concealing clams that squirt upward through the sand when you step on their territory, an experience we would not have had but for friendships created across cyberspace between parents who have children who, as Karen put it, have become invisible.

In the late afternoon, we visited the gracefully contemporary chapel at Seattle University where, as happens more often than you might think, the Presbyterian pastor found herself explaining The Spiritual Exercises to some other folks. (Hey, they asked.) None of that would have been within the scope of my imagination seven or eight years ago.

This afternoon we'll celebrate Father's Day with The Lovely Daughter's friends from Bellingham, thanks to her years at Willamette University, which were a direct consequence of Hurricane Katrina.

And in a couple of days, Gregarious Son is boarding a French naval surveillance ship in the Indian Ocean to observe an anti-piracy exercise.

I'm not sure which of all these events would have been the least predictable a decade ago.

7 comments:

  1. That should read Karen West up there!

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  2. I am enjoying the photos you are posting. The chapel is so intriguing.

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  3. We enjoyed meeting you and the Quiet Husband in person, after we've been acquainted online at such depths and heights! It was such a treat to share our town & beach with you. Am grateful that you are having this time away together, seeing so many different places, people and things! God bless you, your family and your travels; may He bring joy and freshness with each step.

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  4. I'm sorry we were not able to connect. I was looking forward to a time to share our stories. Perhaps another time. Jean M

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  5. Me,too, Jean. Wish I'd had a phone no - hope you got my email.

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  6. I am so hoping for my day to come, to meet both of you. When Chris and I met up, we just cried in each other's arms. What a comfort. Who knows what lies ahead. So grateful for friends who understand. Hugs and love.

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  7. I love the connections that are made across time, space and internet. I have some really great friends, and some amazing moments because of the risk taken and the joy and sorrow shared.

    God is in everything... including the interweb. :)

    I hope one day to spend some time with you, Robin!

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