Dagny at Buc-ee's in Richmond, Kentucky
Two weeks ago, TG, I, and Dagny set out for the Midwest.
Road trip.
Our final destination was the great city of Chicago, where we would do a tad bit of sightseeing (as Dagny had never been there) and take in not one but two late-season baseball games at Wrigley Field.
Dagny in the plaza in front of Rupp Arena
Our Cubbies are currently in the playoffs and of course we are hoping for the best. There's nothing quite like October baseball.
The first day saw us traveling about seven hours, to Lexington, Kentucky. Our hotel was attached to Rupp Arena, where the University of Kentucky Wildcats play basketball.
It began raining as we arrived, but that didn't keep us from brandishing umbrellas and walking to a place called The Goose for dinner. It was warm outside despite the precipitation.
On day two we crossed the Indiana state line
TG enjoyed a burger while Dagny and I shared a pizza. Then we walked back to our hotel and spent a relaxing evening watching Shark Tank and playing word games on our devices.
The next morning we headed for Chicago, gaining an hour along the way into the Central time zone.
You may or may not remember this but TG and I met in Northwest Indiana in the mid-seventies, when I was a Bible college student and he was working as a teacher and coach.
Becky, me, and Kathy
After we married in the summer of 1979, we lived in "The Region" -- otherwise known as the Chicagoland area -- for another twelve years.
And so it is that perhaps the best friend I have ever known in this life, still lives there. Her name is Kathy.
She is widowed now, having lost her beloved husband -- one of TG's best friends -- to Covid in 2021.
Dagny in front of what was our front door when her mother was born
Kathy's only son, David, lives right next door in the duplex that Kathy now owns.
What's interesting about the duplex in which Kathy occupies the left side and David and his family occupy the right, is that it was, many years ago, owned by TG's late parents.
In fact, Kathy and her husband bought the conjoined domiciles from my in-laws, along about the mid-nineties, after we had moved to Knoxville.
Dagny with my beloved friend Kathy
Because in 1980, a few weeks after our Stephanie was born, we moved into the right side of the duplex.
A few years later, Kathy and her family moved in on the left side. Kathy and I were already good friends but we became forever friends during those years.
Each side of the duplex has three floors (one being a basement with windows at yard level), with two bedrooms and one and one-half baths.
You are looking at a wise and wonderful woman
We lived there (on the right) until we bought our first house in 1986. Both Audrey and Erica were brought home there as newborns.
We moved to a house a mile or so away, when Erica was six months old. We lived there when our Andrew was born.
Kathy is an avid gardener and works every day during growing season to keep her flowers lush.
Dagny and Becky struck up an instant friendship
She has made a number of improvements to the duplex and it's got a great deal of curb appeal.
So we swung by there. I had gotten in touch with Kathy a week beforehand, to let her know that we'd stop in at around two in the afternoon.
Her eldest daughter, Becky, another of my most cherished friends, was there with her and that was an unexpected treat as I had not seen Becky in decades.
There was love all around
The weather was gorgeous and we did not have much time, so we stood around in the yard and then sat at a pretty table on the side of the house where Kathy had put out some snacks for us, and did a spot of catching up.
(The last time we stopped by to see Kathy was when we went to Chicago in August of 2019, when her husband was still alive.)
We have been friends for forty years
It was a too-short visit but Kathy and Becky enjoyed meeting Dagny and she loved meeting them, and we took some pictures and all assured one another (not for the first time and I hope not the last) that each of us loves the other forever, no matter what.
Then we took Dagny by the grade school where her mother and her Aunt Stephanie attended for the first several years of their educations, until we moved to Knoxville.
Dagny on the campus of her mother's elementary school
And we also took her by the small apartment building where TG and I lived for a little over a year in a ground-floor unit after we were married, and to the house we bought in 1986 when Erica was a baby.
I was sad to see that that house, which I loved and which was kept shipshape in our day, has been allowed to deteriorate. The present homeowners are not taking care of it.
TG knocked on the door but no one answered, although a dog barked inside.
Dagny and me in front of our long-ago house in Schererville, Indiana
You can't go back. It's perilous to try but we wanted Dagny to see that part of her mother's history.
Then we jumped back into the car and drove less than an hour, to Chicago.
Next time, I'll tell you what we did while we were there.
And that is all for now.
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Happy Tuesday
