Friday morning we were up early in Las Vegas, packing last minute items for a flight to Detroit, Michigan. We dropped the Shelties off at PetsHotel in nearby Henderson when George realized he had forgotten his hearing aids. We found our way to the economy parking lot and waited for the shuttle which took us to the airport then rode the tram to the terminal in which Southwest Airlines was located.
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| Captain Charlie and Princess Zara suspect it's not going to be a typical day at the RV park. |
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| Lake Michigan below is partially frozen! |
Had we paid attention, we would have noticed in small print near the upper left corner of our boarding passes the words "TSA PRE," which would have allowed us to avoid the usual removal of shoes, belts, jackets, laptops, etc. We were hurried onto our plane with continual prompting that we needed to hurry for our push to the gate, only to find once seated that we were waiting on our pilots. We arrived only twenty minutes or so behind schedule to a temperature of 7 degrees and snow flurries.
George's brother, Jack, picked us up and delivered us to the home he shares in Ann Arbor with his delightful wife of 50 years, Helene. George's sisters, Alein and Linda had already arrived, having driven from Minneapolis. Jack and Helene are blessed to have their children and grandchildren nearby, and they were in and out for frequent visits, board games and shared meals. Valerie kept wishing for a full-blown blizzard to fully experience winter, but had to settle for flurries, which was all that materialized.
The big event, which was the reason for our trip, took place on Sunday evening, when a group of family and close friends gathered at Mangiamo's Italian Grill in nearby Saline to celebrate Jack and Helene's 50th wedding anniversary. We left the house in something of a hurry, disappointedly forgetting our good camera. But the food was delicious, the video presentation George was honored to prepare for the occasion was well received, and we were reminded of the beauty of enduring love. More than one person felt compelled to express their gratitude for Jack and Helene's accepting nature and adoption into their family.
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| Twins Jim and John are making last-minute preparations. |
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| Cake and flowers! |
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| Posing for photos! |
Following breakfast on Monday, we were again at the airport and this time prepared to dodge the regular screening lines with our TSA PRE boarding passes in hand. Warm weather and wagging tails awaited us in Las Vegas.
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| We'll be home soon! |
Our hearts remain filled with the warm sentiments and the example set by Jack and Helene, which is best expressed so beautifully in one of my favorite quotes from the Holy Bible:
"Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude; never selfish, not quick to take offense. There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and endurance. In a word, there are three things that last forever: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of them all is love." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
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| The dogs' were glad to see us! |
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