a prolonged re-entry

Since saying goodbye to my hippie stint in the late 60’s I have given at least a fair impression of being a responsible adult…pastoring a church, raising five children, keeping a budget and all the other wonderful duties/joys of being a wife and mother.  I am in my sixth week away from home without family….an intentional break from most of what is familiar and comfortable and struggling a bit with feelings of guilt as my husband cares for my bulldog, pays the bills, and makes his own way alone for the first time in 30 years.

Dan and I took a taxi to the train station on Friday the 10th. He helped me navigate with my "motor home"bag to the right platform. I got to Pisa and took a train to the airport where I really started feeling the sting of my excessive luggage.  Ryanair’s 59 euro flight to Paris cost me a new bag and an 85 euro charge for a second bag. They are merciless enforcing weight and size regulations…

I have blogged some about my trip for two weeks in France, Switzerland and back into Italy. I do believe I would have done more writing if I had simply journaled in my Moleskin instead of having the constraint of concern about punctuation and good form.

As of this post, I am still not home. I am with my youngest daughter in a coffee shop in Fremont, Michigan where we have been processing her life changes as well as my own. I leave tomorrow to meet my husband in Charlotte and then onto SC for a few days to see a new grandson….home on the 4^th to my beloved Bunter.

I have been working some with Gelb’s book since Florence. I have shared it with a number of people who, like me, are impressed that it is our “textbook” for this class.

Concerning jet lag….Bonine is the “once a day travel tablet” that makes a flight relaxing and wards off any possibility of air sickness. I took two tablets as per the directions…but a 250 pound man also takes two tablets.  I left Europe on Friday the 24^th. Today is the 29^th and I am still nodding off in the middle of a conversation.  Am so thankful that my re-entry is prolonged and I have a driver.

The time in Italy will be journaled and processed for a long season. Besides having children, this month in Europe may be the most profound and paradigm-altering experience in my short life. I am grateful to each of you for being a part of it.