Deaths
It would seem there has been a veritable cascade of lives to deaths recently, from a 3 year old to very much older. In memory, even of those I never met, I am posting a pair of my poems with the hope that they will comfort.
On The Death of Those Younger
Hearing of the homegoing
Unexpected but to God
Our lives measured
Determined each its span
Illness or accident
Short of so short the life
By memory extended
Let us mourn, in grief rejoice
For one so young so soon hears God's voice
Enters joyful into heaven
Let our mourning joyful be
And homegoing crave for you and me
Should our years the Lord extend
A glorious entry our desired end.
Finally Home
Last heartbeat, last breath,
Some will think that this is death,
Tremble at the cold expected
Not realizing with God connected
Death for believers brings them
Finally home.
Finally home to thank their Father
Finally home to serve their Brother
Finally home to honor the Spirit
Finally home--
All earth-work done.
Finally home
No struggling with world
Finally home
No longer wrestling with flesh
Finally home
No longer bedeviled
Finally home
First breath, first heartbeat
Eternity entered

Bookends of our recent trip
Our flight (round-trip of course) was scheduled on a different airline from the usual as it was less expensive that way. We'd leave from LAX on Oct. 2 and return to LAX on Oct. 17. In between we'd fly to other cities, and rent a car for the other parts of our travels. Sounded simple and straightforward on paper.
On our way through security at LAX, I was stopped because something in one of my carry-on bags seemed suspicious. It proved to be something we never used but when we packed, well, it seemed like we'd need it.
Through security, time for something to eat before getting on the plane to Milwaukee where we were supposed to connect with a plane to Minneapolis. Now I was once asked how much of Wisconsin we expected to see on our trip and I answered honestly: just the Milwaukee airport, where we would be making our connection to a flight to Minneapolis. Well, that is what we expected but not what we experienced.
Uneventful flight to Milwaukee, deplaned in plenty of time to catch the connection, even time for a bite to eat. But within minutes (10? 15?) we noticed that the flight to Minneapolis was cancelled. Had this been one of multiple flights to Minneapolis we could have been disappointed but not dismayed. As it was, there would not be another flight even offered until the next day. What was our option if we wanted to reach Minneapolis?
A bus! A smallish bus w/o a restroom on it, which held perhaps a third of the passengers from the plane was our conveyance between Milwaukee and Minneapolis. What would have taken maybe an hour by air proved to take 6.5 hours by bus, with one stop for bathroom use and to obtain fast food to be eaten on the bus.
We were never told why the flight was called off but as we motored through the rain or mist or fog, my best guess was the weather.
We reached Minneapolis eventually and changed our plans again. But that was just at the beginning of our trip.
Due to circumstances, we extended our trip so that instead of leaving on October 17 as we planned, we would leave on October 24. Sounded simple, right? And it was until October 24 when, on reaching Minneapolis, we found ourselves entangled in the type of traffic jam one might expect in Southern California. Inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter, pointed toward the terminal (well, we hoped that we were headed in the right direction), eventually reaching our goal: the rental car drop-off. We had expected to have time to eat something, but, no. There was the time it took to deal with the car, then time to drop bag off, then time to go through security (Garry had something in one of his carry-on bags this time), then locating the gate--which of course was the farthest one. We reached the gate as our plane was being loaded with passengers. Garry had just enough time to purchase a bag of chips from a vending machine, but not to eat them until we were in the air.
Flew to Atlanta, from Atlanta to LAX, and ever so thankful to see our friends who were waiting to bring us back to our place.