During the month of August, we haven’t wandered quite as far as we did in June and July, but we continue to make the most of this precious time. The last post of this blog, then, is aptly named “Midwest Wander Tales.” Here’s a rundown of where we’ve been and where we’re going.
Indianapolis
After coming home from the lake cabin in Minnesota, we spent two nights at home. Then we took Ellie to IU Indianapolis. She is now officially a college student.
Brad and I spent the next 5 days wandering around our house. Then we hosted people for dinner, rekindled friendships in Naperville, and took my mother to see her hometown and her Seifert relatives. None of these things would have happened were it not for the sabbatical.
Naperville, Illinois
I have many pictures in my office. One of them is of “the girls” from Naperville, where Brad and I learned how to be pastors and began our journey as husband and wife. I hadn’t seen 2/3 of “the girls” and their husbands for 10 years. That changed last Sunday.
Central Illinois
My 91-year-old mother grew up in central Illinois. She has often wondered aloud about making one final trip to see her roots. Thanks to this sabbatical, that’s what we did this week.
Since the way home took us through Indianapolis, we stopped and had Brad’s birthday dinner with Ellie. She was glad for a good meal, and I think she was even glad to see us! Then we spent the night with mom in Ft. Wayne, gathered more slides for digitizing and photo albums for scanning, wound up taking mom to the ER for neck pain, and hope to wander back to Granger this evening.
Chicago
In the B.E. (Before Ellie) period of our marriage, Brad and I went out for dinner every year on our anniversary. As our salary grew a little, we went out to dinner in Chicago. This year we plan to reinstate that tradition. Friends are letting us use their condo in Chicago the week after Labor Day. We’ll see a Cubs game on September 2 and on our 30th anniversary on September 3, we’ll have a nice dinner in the city.
Christ the King Lutheran Church
On Sunday, September 14, we’ll wander back to Christ the King Lutheran Church. We will be amazed at the physical changes (thank you, Matt and Tom!), thankful for the familiar faces, and will definitely be glad to be home.
No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. ~Lin Yutang
Thanks for joining us on this journey…and for welcoming us home soon.
Yours, Caroline
Wander Tales by PC, PB, and Ellie 