A Long Absence Explained

Hello, Friends...  It has been quite a long time since I have spoken to you here.  I have been gone on a whirlwind voyage to be at the side of a very dear friend.  My high-school BFF has been suddenly asked to bear the tremendous burden of watching her usually healthy, active, middle-aged father become suddenly and dangerously ill by an unusually agressive and swift-moving strain of a terminal illness called amyloidosis.  Please keep her father, Skip, in your prayers.  Physically unable to undergo the treatment that would likely save his life, his liver is failing and his days numbered.  We are praying for a miracle.

Leaving Elliott behind with my in-laws, Caiden and I braved six hours of flying and freezing cold temperatures in beautiful Connecticut.  Although the reason for our journey could not have been worse, it was a sweet time of reunion with my old friend and her family as well as my own family.  A considerable amount of trees were still valiantly bearing their fiery burden of fall leaves and it was a beautiful sight to behold.

In the top photo you can see my friend, Liz, to the left of me, and her two sisters next to her, and on my right is another BFF from high-school, Erica.  The girls playing in the leaves are two of Liz's beautiful nieces, Delia and Elise (you might recognize them as Elliott's little pals in this photo from Liz's wedding in June).  The very bottom photos from left to right are: my dad and Caiden; my brother, Peter, and Caiden; my beautiful red roses, thoughtfully sent by David for our fifth wedding anniversary that transpired while I was away; and the beautiful view from Liz's amazing condo nestled in to the corner of a wonderful, old, brick building that was once a teacher's college (one of the first, actually).

Nevertheless, I have now returned and will be blogging with a vengeance to keep my friend, Lizzie, entertained and occupied while she endures endless hours at work...

See ya soon! (as Elliott would say)