A Surprise Visit from Jane and Vanessa

Katherine called me upstairs late yesterday afternoon saying I had surprise visitors who would make me happy, and they did. There stood my niece Jane and her daughter Vanessa, neither of whom I had seen for a couple of years for some reason. Vanessa was all grown up getting ready to start high school next week. I was so confused that I thought she was her older cousin Leana--even tho she looked like herself and not Leana. I finally got my bearings and adjusted to Vanessa's being an attractive young teen now and no longer the cute little girl who hiked at Ferne Clyffe with us. She is not only good at math and science, but she is very interested in art. I was glad to be able to call Brianna up to meet her second cousin. We had a good discussion with the girls about, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Brianna will be in the fifth grade next year, and I think she will fulfill her goal to be a writer. I have found little books left behind, which she has writtten, for years now. Of course, she also has other interests--space travel and dog training, etc. We also got fresh news and updates on Vanessa's older brothers Ryan and Sean--both of whom are in college now.

My brother had just told me on the phone the other night that Jane would be on a 1-3 month paid time-off from her employment as a respiratory therapist as her company was making some significant changes. So Jane and Vanessa were on their way to vacation in Texas and stopped by.

Jane read some of her poetry to me. The special one she gave her mother for Mother's Day about unconditional love made me tear up. She has filled four journals of poetry since college--all written in long hand in that neat beautiful script she has. One of her goals while she is off work is to get them typed onto the computer.

I had not started supper yet--though by the end of the visit it was suppertime. I had cooked a couple of chickens the day before and had them (uncut up) with broth waiting in the downstairs fridge and was planning on making dumplings with tortillas for our supper for the seven of us here at Woodsong this weekend. I did invite Jane and Vanessa to stay, but they felt they needed to get on down the road. I was afraid it would take me quite awhile to get the meal on the table (and it did) so I did not insist they stay on.

But their visit was a lovely addition to an August day.