Oh, I am so sad!

Well, I came home to an empty house. At least it is empty for a while. Joanne said she is going to call it a short day and try to get her bedroom straightened away as her daughter, Heather, arrives tomorrow. Another guest to stay at Day's Inn!!! I already washed and dried the sheets after Linda used them and will redress the bed before Heather gets here. This will be the first of Joanne's children that I am meeting and so will be on my best behavior, of course!

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As far as I know, Linda is in the air somewhere over GA about now, heading for Minneapolis. She changes planes there and then flies to MKE to meet Tommy, who is coming on a direct flight from Las Vegas. She arrives about 30 minutes before Tommy does and then they drive home to Manitowoc together, getting home before midnight. Perfect if no one has a flat tire or a storm interferes with either flight. Boy, I miss her already!

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We had such a great morning at Bible study and then lunch with some of the ladies. There was much laughter taking place, to the point where Gretchen made the comment that we were going to make her wet her pants---Linda piped up, "That's why we sit on towels!" which made all of them laugh even more. This was while we were still at church so I encouraged them to go in and use the bathroom before we got to the restaurant. We were discussing our fishing trip and Ethel was telling about Linda and how sick and miserable she was. Tommy had the best time of any of those fishing but the three of us (Justin, Linda, and me) were so ready to go back home! Gives us lots to laugh about now, though.

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Before going in to Bible study, I heard Gretchen calling to me from the parking lot. I parked on the black top and she was on the grass, something she never does. Gretchen had a pink gift bag in her hand which she gave to me! Aw, so sweet.....Inside was a glass heart, flat, with a ribbon through the top for hanging purposes. On the face of the heart were the words: Be still, and know that I am God. I grabbed her around the neck and hugged the stuffings out of her! She knows how "valuable" that particular passage is to me, and so does Linda now after watching the funeral service video yesterday. Wow, can anyone have such great, thoughtful friends as do I????

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Gretchen told me that maybe, just maybe, she would have to think about it, she might watch the funeral service with me. Linda said it was okay, it took her this long to get the courage up to watch it, and is so glad she did. We looked like heck afterward but still..........it always does my heart good to watch the service and hear that amazing message. And it is all I can do to refrain from calling Pete and thanking him for what he did, for us and for the congregation and for the community. Thanks belong to God who gave him the strength and the gift to do so.

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I miss Linda already!