The weekend in DC was just one great big miracle. Such a incredible thing (making it more miraculous and amazing that we could be there). It was true family solidarity and strength in action. Grandmother Foulger was an amazing woman and it was a powerful experience to be (and feel) a part of that group. It felt like perfect words were shared, perfect memorials expressed, and perfect celebrations enacted.
My first memory of Grandmother Foulger was in October 2003, at an apartment in Salt Lake City. I was meeting a huge group of the family for the first time. It was intimidating. Grandmother set the tone of welcoming and acceptance. I even had facial hair at the time, and she managed to get off one of the most subtle and loving critiques I had ever experienced (something about how great men look with a clean shave). I have included a picture of Grandmother with her sister Jean at our wedding in July 2005. Grandmother will be missed....
Back to the miracles: Miracle #5 making it to the airport in DC after GPS got us in a serious funk in DC traffic. Miracle #6 Landing safely in a Seattle snowstorm (one of the roughest landings I have experienced, maybe you have seen the news). Miracle #7 Making a Portland flight (replacing our canceled Eugene flight) as the 28th and 29th standby passengers! Miracle #7 warrants a little more detail. Annie and I were dead tired and very mentally drained by the time we landed in Portland at 1:45 am. poor Annie is 7 months pregnant (measuring 8 months), and had endured two very long flights and a stressful lay over. (I had this Joseph and Mary moment sitting there, it really hit home for me). The only place that had cars was Herz and it was clear why. They were asking $200 for us to take a car to Eugene for the night. We weren't certain if we had any chance of getting on flights or even the train the next day and desperately wanted to be moving on. We were also incredibly tired and the weather outside was... shall we say, frightful. Driving seemed like a scary options as well. The $200 was a massive discouragement also. With prayers in our hearts to have our nightmare over, we decided we needed to be moving on and that I could just drive slowly and drink some caffeine. Just as I was about to concede to the Herz sales associate, I noticed a gentleman walk in with the same glaze in his eyes. He was wearing an Oregon duck sweatshirt (U of O is in Eugene) and I immediately recognized the opportunity and seized it. As I got closer I was completely astonished to realize that it was an old acquaintance from school... no not U of O, but from Grade school, Junior High and High school in Salt Lake!! It was an almost out of body experience. What are you doing here? Turns out he had lived in Eugene for ten years and was returning home and got caught up in the weather mess like us. He had further complicated his situation by leaving his personal car key in a rental car in Vegas. He had to rent a car and return it the next day. Returning the car to the same location reduced the price to $100 dollars, which we split. We had a slow but comfortable ride to Eugene. This friend and I kept each other wide awake talking about old times, while Annie slept soundly in the back seat. When we returned home at 4:45 am, I have never been so happy to be in my house and in my bed. We expressed some serious gratitude that night for a watchful eye on us. Did Grandmother Foulger have a hand in any of this... why not?
Happy to be home and praying for those traveling this weekend.
Jake and Annie
5 comments:
Thank you so much for sharing that with us all. I have a testimony of the miracles that the Lord puts in our path to help us along in this bumpy road we are on called life. It brought tears to my eyes and I am so glad that you are being watched over, you are both certainly in our prayers daily. Love you both so much!!!! Have a great Thanksgiving.....much to be thankful for. Mom
I'm sorry to hear about Grandma Foulger. That is sad but I'm know that she was a wonderful woman by countless stories I've heard about her over the years. Secondly, I'm so glad you got home safety. Traveling is so stressful. How about a belly picture?
Yay for miracles!. We think your babies are the biggest miracle of all! If you're ever in Portland and in need of a rental car, let us know, David has a cousin that works at one of the car companies, or if you're in that situation again, you could call us to come get you! That's what friends are for, right! We're glad you're home safe...
oh.my.gosh. whatr i love is that the post could ahve been writen in a very negative tone ( because it does have a lot in it that sounds just not fun) but instead it was a post about how in the crumiest situations there is good- there is grace- thereis hope
wow! after having my own 'travel' nightmares with pregnant wife, i can surely empathize with you and share in the miracles that get us from point A to point B sometimes. Sleeping on hard airport chairs with my entire family and pregnant wife in the Rome airport will forever rank as one of the worst experiences of my life yet there were little miracles that helped us get home for christmas! glad things worked out for you and happy you shared your experiences.. now you need to jot these things down because your twins to be will love hearing this story!
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