Tuesday, June 4, 2013

He's Somewhere Over Manitoba. I Just Got Back to Langley.

It's midnight and I just got home.
I took Clint to the airport. It was supposed to be a straightforward transfer; I pick him up. I drop him off. 
(Plus I was hoping to catch a quick meal with him. And I really wanted 5 private minutes to pray with him.) 

I left work at 4 and got to his place (in Vancouver) at 4:45 pm.  We were going to leave his place at 5.


Back yard of Clint's place.



















He wasn't home, he was cancelling the insurance on his truck. He got home at 5 AND CONTINUED PACKING.


Someone needs to cut the lawn.




















At 6, he puts his bed (boxspring and mattress) into the back of his pick up truck and says, "Yeah, I'm going to have to leave that with you. You're going to have to get the truck out to Nan's (my mom's place) and store the bed in the garage."




























"OK, I said. "Um, I can't get back here til later in the week, though."
"Uh, no. The insurance runs out at midnight. So you're going to have to do it tonight. The truck can stay at Nan's til I get back in October."

So I phone Max, who lives in New West, and ask him to skytrain into Vancouver, then walk to Clint's place to drive his truck out to Fraser Heights to my mom's house. He has a NA meeting til 9, so he'll do it afterwards. I'll meet him at my mom's, then drive him back to New West. Clint hides the truck keys under the blue recycling bins at the back of his house. I confirm TWICE that his keys are there for Max.

We finally leave his place (in my truck), and he says, "Oh, we have to swing by my office. I have to pick up some hard drives." So we head down town. I pull up in front of his office, he feels his pockets for his keys and realizes he's left them under the blue recycling bins at the back of his house. We drive back to his place (during the peak of rush hour) to grab the keys. "Leave the truck keys for Max, I remind him. Just grab your office keys."

He runs to the back of his house, grabs the keys and hops in the truck. "Go. GO, GOOOO," he yells. (We are SO behind schedule.)

I pull back onto 1st Ave and ask, "Did you leave the truck keys there for Max?"
"No, we can come back after we go to the office..."
I turn around and GO BACK TO HIS HOUSE AGAIN... "No, we are out of time. We're not coming back again. It's 6:30. Your plane leaves in two hours. I have a stomach ache."

He runs back up to the blue recycling box and leaves the truck keys for Max.

We head back down town and I park outside his office.
I wait. And wait. And wait. Seriously how long does it take to grab a few hard drives?
(It takes 15 minutes if you're transferring date first.)

I drive like a mad woman down Cambie and get us to the airport at 7:00 pm





















Online check-in and kiosk check-in were both not working this evening. 



























(He had just purchased alot of video and camera equipment this weekend, and it was all packed in between his socks and hoodies in one of his checked bags. This was too heavy, so, there on the airport floor, he took apart three suitcases and repacked/redistributed his equipment and his boxers.






















He is the last person to check in at 7:30 pm, which is also when the plane was loading.






































HOW IS IT THAT I HAVE CHILDREN LIKE THIS?

I left the airport at 7:45 and headed to Fraser Heights to wait for Max.

(That's not completely true. I noticed that a British Airways flight had just come in from London. So I sat in the seats in International Arrivals to watch/listen to people with English accents walk through those 'welcome to Vancouver' doors. Unfortunately no one was talking very loudly. And my future husband did not present himself to me. So I left after 15 minutes.)

I got to mom's at 9. But Max was running behind, as he had a some spontaneous business to attend to after the meeting. So he didn't leave New West til 10-ish.

He took skytrain to Commerical, then walked a mile to Clint's place, got the keys, drove the truck to my mom's, unloaded the bed, had some supper (pizza) (Yeah, that is so supper) that I had waiting for him, then I drove him back to New West. And now I'm home. (Were you counting? I crossed over the Port Mann Bridge 4 times this evening.)


And in the time it took me to get home, Clint has flown half way across the country. 




























Have I mentioned that he is sick? Like, really depleted of energy and completely congested? He's got a head cold, tonsillitis and, most probably, according to my doctor whom he saw on Thursday- the early stages of mono. 

Oy vey. 

Dear God,

Please protect my boy. Accompany him on this journey, meet him in Africa, and grab his attention. Open his eyes to the things you want/need him to see. Heal his body, soften his heart, care for his soul, stir up a passion deep within him for the lost and seeking that he can't ignore. 


Provide him with opportunities to lead, and fill him with wisdom and courage to do the right thing. Nudge him to seek You, enable Him to accept Your love.


Thank you for loving him. Please continue the good work You started in him on that day ...


Amen.


 Three things I'm thankful for:
1. Clint's adventurous spirit. 
2. Max's service-minded spirit.
3. My mom's generosity in letting us all store our crap at her house.

Shalom,



No comments: