On the way to our mailbox down the street, I noticed a woman slowly rolling a large tire from her car to the side of her garage. My first thought was, “She shouldn’t be doing that. I’ll unload her tires for her.”
But then she fell and together we couldn’t get her up. So I called Dan who showed up just as a young couple from down the street happened by.
Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash
Road trips. They’re so full of the promise of adventure, of seeing new places and meeting new people and learning new things.
Our home church in Bend, Oregon, has a significant number of families who have expanded their size through adoption. One young couple is currently preparing to adopt for the second time. To help offset the expenses, Foundry Church established an adoption fund, and families in the church are organizing a fundraiser.
At the time of this writing, it’s been 46 hours since we landed, exhausted from a flight that originated in Puerto Rico at 1:00 in the morning … to Newark … to San Francisco … to central Oregon.
My luggage didn’t land with us.
Photo by Jefferson Sees on Unsplash
Dan and I recently returned from vacationing in Hawaii with three couples—all members of my deceased husband’s family. Weird, right?
It might not have been the best timing to help load up a U-Haul truck and drive back through three states over multiple mountain passes. But we were glad to assist.
We couldn’t find our toilet. We noticed it had been removed, but it wasn’t anywhere in the garage. And then later, I walked further into the bathroom and there, partially hidden behind the shower curtain, stood our toilet. In our bathtub.
Back when I was a new widow, I adopted the attitude of saying Yes to as many opportunities as possible. “Yes, I’ll join you and the kids in Disney World.” “Celebrating your husband’s birthday in Mexico? I’ll be there!”
And not only Yes to new adventures, but also Yes to interruptions, volunteer respite care, and visiting the dying.
Dan and I made a number of connections this past month, among them a large Christmas gathering with family, a writers’ critique group meeting, and a last-minute drive to Seattle to catch the premier screening of a film—made by a friend, and featuring another friend.
Copyright © 2025 Marlys Johnson
