Beautiful Black Mountain, NC, home of Shirley's church.
The trip to Asheville last week was bittersweet… When I arrived I felt horribly sad. Shirley’s cabin means just one thing to me: George. We went there during our first phase, and of course we went there a lot during this last ten years. So initially, it was difficult. But Sara and I decided to start exploring, and we walked around downtown, ate out, and drove around, getting lost over and over, but generally having a nice time. It was… sort of fun.
Biltmore
Then Cathy arrived and took us over to Biltmore, and that was a wonderful day. The estate is gorgeous, and our guide, Mr. Tickle (yes, that was his name,) was delightful. A British citizen born in Liverpoole, he is an expert in restoring interiors to their former glory. Since he knows his way around the estate, he took us on a special tour and pointed out the various rooms he worked on during his tenure at Biltmore. What a nice man! He was great. We had to find him in the car park to start the tour and I drove up to several men who were standing around and asked, “Are you Mr. Tickle?” That cracked them up. And us!
Lily bonded with Mr. Tickle (Derrick), and it turns out he’s an art teacher and teaches after school during the school year. I’m going to sign her up. Its great to have something to look forward to.
Then we spent a lot of time hanging out in the hotel. Once Anne and Cathy got there, we had a good time playing with Lily’s Bratz dolls. I’m posting the videos we made of Anne and Lily playing with the dolls. We laughed so hard during this we almost got sick. We thought it was so funny. Don’t know if you will, but we sure did.
Oh How We Cried
Then it was back to the sadness at George’s final memorial. We had lots of people there, many of them family. I think it really made Shirley feel better to see everyone. We all cried our eyes out at this service,much more than the one in Atlanta. I’m not sure why, but it was sadder. Poor Cathy had to speak last and she sniffed through the whole speech. Anne sang Amazing Grace, and Lily played a little drum along with her. That made me very happy. Kinda kooky, but just right. We also had the son of one of George’s old friends who sang “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan and “I’ll Follow the Sun” by the Beatles, which was our theme for this memorial. He was quite good. Forever Young prompted another bout of crying from me. Oh, that one got to me. We said it was from George to Lily, and well, it was very touching.
Forever Young
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
Lily looked like an angel in her white dress, and she again set some balloons free. That was sweet. Lily said they went so high, she thought they might find George. I hope they did.
Then we made the long trip home, and drove it in one long go. Sheesh. That was hard. It took about 11 hours. Lily missed school Tuesday she was so tired, prompting an email from her teacher. We felt bad, but we are doing the best we can with the situation. She should be back for good now, and won’t be missing any more school unless she gets sick.
So all of the memorials are over now, and we have to settle down to the business of packing up our Pennsylvania lives and getting a new home built in Asheville. We met with an architect and he seemed to understand what I am looking for. I hope we can get a nice house where friends like to visit and we feel safe and happy. I’ll share our progress as things start to happen with the house.
Now I guess I’ll go help Sara help Lily with the mountain of homework she has to make up. Wish us luck, she’s not happy about it at all.
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