Re-connections, Realizations

This past Friday I toddled my way up the East Coast to Boston for a weekend full of reconnection and realizations.

In the order in which they came:

1)  The radio stations in State College stink.  (Oh River 105.9, why can't you be forever in my life?)

2) Time well spent in the past becomes time well spent in the future.

[Saturday morning found me at a brunch with these lovely ladies, my support system when I lived in Massachusetts and played the piano for their sweet church family.  My heart just about busted with love as I sat and talked with them, and gleaned from them what it is to be a woman walking bravely in the world.]

3) I am one blessed cookie.

[My friends Kathy and Gene brought me into their home when I was a fresh-faced college graduate, set me up in their basement with more than what I needed, fed me, counselled me, loved me, taught me how to live.]

[They have welcomed me into their home ever since I left it to travel the world, and have continued to pursue a relationship with me no matter where I've been.]

[And, they have significantly contributed to my wardrobe for occasions such as Christmas, birthdays, weddings-I-forget-to-pack-a-dress-for...]

4) Even when you forget to pack a dress, the wedding must go on.

[Went on it did.  Karen and Blair had what I consider to be the most beautiful & simply elegant wedding I have ever had the joy to be a part of.]

5) Karen is one of the most special people I know, and I want her in my life for always.

[It's not every day that you run into a bride who makes you feel like you're the main event...]

[...and whom everyone in the room speaks of as if she and the man she's chosen to marry make their life worth living.

{Love you Kar, and have loved being a part of your journey.  Thanks for including me in your important day.}] 

6) Even a mediocre breakfast can be fortifying, when combined with the fortification of family time.

[Though we took no pictures to document the hole in the wall we ate at, Dave & Kara met me for breakfast  on my way out of town. We'll use this classy pic as a stand-in:

We do love a good meal, we Kooistra women.

We also love each other and the boy who brought us together, and we reminded ourselves of it as we shared about our journeying through life.]

7) I have lived a charmed and full life, have had a wonderful weekend, and now it is good to be home!