Kerry's visit

Kerry and I met at Oxford Pres. back in 2009.  Maeve was just born, Noah was in preschool at the church and I was doing Christian Ed. work.  Kerry was pregnant with her third and her daughter was in the same preschool class as Noah.  She was an active member of the church and we enjoyed lots of children's programs together, bible schools, women's retreats and women's bible studies.  We always shared our joy for our children, our families, our patient husbands, and for our common strong willed demeanors.  When the kids were little we would trade off babysitting while I was at the church or while Kerry was running her own garden and landscaping business.  We became quickly very close and really enjoyed each other.  Kerry's husband took a job in Columbus, Ohio and she moved from Oxford.  Shortly thereafter, we moved to Downingtown, but we stayed very close through all of the transitions.  Every time she came home to visit family we would get together and I made the trip out to Columbus from PA one time (sadly only that once!).  We can always pick up exactly where we have left off and it never feels as though any time has passed.

This past Christmas we were both going to be in PA but we both had jam packed schedules around the holiday.  We managed to squeeze in a fabulous and really meaningful dinner together at Harvest Grill without the kids or husbands on December 29th, the day before my seizures.  I remember Kerry coming to the hospital and just saying over and over again how grateful she was that we made the time to get together.

Currently, Kerry is still living in Columbus, but is studying full time in a landscape architecture program, mothering three children and trying to balance a million things.  As soon as I got back to Seattle she sent a message telling me she was coming for her spring break.  I didn't even know the dates, where I would be in treatment or anything, but she had already booked her flight.  I was grateful that she made all of the decisions and I didn't have to plan or think about it.

She flew in last Sunday and it was pouring rain!!!  I swear that I keep telling everyone it doesn't rain much here and then when visitors come it rains a lot!

We had a nice meal at the 5 Spot Sunday evening and then just stayed at home.  She and Paul put their heads together with all the medicines and treatment schedules because I was having a really hard time understanding where I needed to go and when.

Monday morning she went with me to my first treatment and then we drove Paul to work and headed to the Olympic Sculpture Garden.  In her program at Ohio State she had studied and heard about many different landscape designs in Seattle and so I got to explore new things that I wouldn't have known about otherwise.  We parked the car and walked through the garden and then walked up the street through the Pike Place Market.

The weather was gorgeous and we were basking in the sunshine.  We enjoyed a great Salmon Salad at The Market Grill and perused the vendors.  I took her to the gum wall and she was totally grossed out (germaphobe!).  We had some yummy ice cream in the market and then it was time to get the kids.

One of her landscape design sights was Gasworks park, located on the north shore of Lake Union.  We got takeout fish and chips from Ivar's and sat along the water and enjoyed the beautiful evening.

Back Story: Gasworks is a 20 acre point on Lake Union that was cleared in 1906 to construct a plant to manufacture gas from coal - later converted to crude oil. Import of natural gas in the 1950's made the plant obsolete. The city acquired the site for a park in 1962. The park was opened to the public in 1975. The boiler house has been converted to a picnic shelter with tables, fire grills and an open area. The former exhauster-compressor building, now a children's play barn, features a maze of brightly painted machinery.

This park is made from these old structures, blended with very pastoral green hills and pathways.  It's a great blend of a historic time in the city's history and a currently very vibrant and active city -- people were running and playing all through the park.  Plus it has an amazing view of the city.

  

One the way home it was really clear and so we made a quick stop at the Kerry Park viewpoint which is a standard tourist spot that has great views of Mt. Rainier and the city. It also happened to be named after Kerry.  She got a great view of the mountain and the city. 

I was feeling really good at this point.  I wasn't having really any side effects from the chemo or radiation and I was really enjoying all of the things we were doing!  My radiation schedule was a little different the first week so sometimes it was at night and sometimes it wasn't.  

On Tuesday Kerry and I went over to the University of Washington to see the gardens around the University.  It was breathtaking to see so many cherry trees in bloom in the quad.  We walked many paths strewn with cherry blossom leaves and really enjoyed how beautiful UW was.  

Tuesday was also St. Patrick's Day so we had corned beef and cabbage at the Hilltop Ale House in Queen Anne and then headed to get the kids from school.  Tuesday evening Kerry stayed with the kids while Paul took me to radiation.

Wednesday was Kerry's last full day and so we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island to see The Bloedel Reserve which is an internationally renowned public garden and forest preserve.  It was beautiful to walk through the gardens and enjoy all that was in bloom.  

The birch path:

The Japanese garden:

Selfie in front of an amazing root system on a fallen tree:

The moss gardens:

The reflecting pool:

We raced home from Bainbridge and stopped to grab some sushi for dinner before getting the kids.  I had a few bites before heading to radiation again but when we got home I just fell right asleep.  Kerry and Paul stayed up and talked about the new house and watched a movie.  I think I slept a full 12 hours!

Thursday morning we only had a little bit of time before Kerry had to get to the airport so we walked around on Queen Anne Ave getting some souvenirs and we enjoyed one last yummy meal at a Thai place.  

Kerry kept saying her intentions were to come and make a ton of meals and freeze them for me and to clean and do all of these things for me.  She found out quickly that our tiny house doesn't support extra anything!  There really wasn't room in the freezer for anything and just keeping up with the chaos of the kids takes most of our time.  She was incredibly helpful with dishes and entertaining the kids and just keeping me chatting about fun things.  It was a vacation for me as well, even if it was the first week of treatment, because we had so much fun walking and looking at trees and flowers and eating and laughing and just being friends.  Once again I find myself immersed in blessings, surrounded by love.  When Kerry booked that trip back in January we had no idea this would be my first week.  We had no idea how I would be feeling.  But God knew.  God knew that I would need this support on this exact week and that she was the right person to come and simultaneously keep me moving while taking care of me.  Again and again I am so grateful.  God's provision is always enough and in perfect timing.