This spacious house,
successively owned by three different siblings, which we called home for nearly
nine years, will soon be sold to someone outside the family. Consequently,, I had a strong desire to visit
it this past Labor Day weekend for what will most likely be the last time. Pardon the phrase, but we were treated like
royalty in Royal City! Iris made us feel
very comfortable in our old home, and it was nice to know my way around. Rick and JoLyn invited all of the Washburn
relatives for a barbecue on Saturday night in their creatively landscaped badkyard.
We enjoyed the company of Ethan and
Missy’s family, Iris with her sons, Matthew and Michael, and of course that of
our hosts, Rick and JoLyn.
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| JoLyn's Fairy Garden |
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| Looking for Pixies |
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| Rick, Iris & Mathew |
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| Which way should I go? |
After we left the
barbecue, the flood of emotion that greeted me upon entering our old house was
completely unexpected. The first night and
morning of our stay, our family’s collective past sorrows and regrets were
uppermost in my heart and mind. It seemd
to me that some of our sons had been happy in this home, and others probably had
not. I thought of things I wish I had
known, and things I wish I’d handled differently during those busy, growing
times that can never return. I snuggled
up to the big old walnut tree that Dan’s brother Alan planted so many years
ago, which we learned was one of Jordan’s favorite spots there, and I just
cried all those sad memories away. From
then on, everything was bliss.
Dear friends made me feel so welcome and loved at church the
next morning. I surprised myself by recalling
some of their phone numbers that I hadn’t thought of in over a dozen
years. Shane is going to Peru this fall.
It was good to find out that Ted and
Jean have a daughter and son-in-law serving a mission there, so they said I
could call them for their contact information in case Shane should have need of
it. The Sunday School class was well
taught by a young man I’d taught when he
was a teenager. I had to laugh when he
bore his testimony in sacrament meeting, saying, “And Sister Washburn, in case
my voice has lost some hair, or gained a few pounds, this is Chad Bergeson.” Attending my old wonderful ward, and greeting
so many friends once more, is an experience I will always treasure.
After church, The Farrers invited us yet again
to their home, where we enjoyed a brunch of their famous crepes with a variety
of toppings, and lots of bacon! JoLyn also made one of Dan’s mom’s favorite
breakfast dishes, eggs goldenrod. Mmm
mmm, happy!
We visited Dan’s sister, Janet, and her husband, Don, the
next morning in Moses Lake. Janet loves
critters, and showed off all her chickens, guineas, dogs, and alpacas to us.
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| Janet's Alpacas |
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| Janet's Guineas |
Then we had a nice visit in Othello for a couple of hours,
at Ethan’s and Missy’s home. Every
moment spent with our grandchildren is a precious one, because of how much we
love, care, and pray for them.. They warm
our hearts, and make us laugh, too. Zaid
rattled off a long string of “dadadadadadaddada’s” when we were all at the
Farrer’s barbecue and Rick was doing a little juggling. I finally asked Missy what he was
saying. It was meant to be the familiar
melody generally recognized as circus music.
I’m still chuckling over that one.
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| Zaid |
Our last hurrah of the weekend was to meet up with Ethan’s
family, Iris and Matthew, and Ric and JoLyn to take in a movie, Ephraim’s
Rescue, in TriCities. And thus ended our
greatly enjoyed visit. Thank you, Royal
City area friends and family. Live long
and prosper.
