5) Decorating the House

My mom and I hunkered down to decorate the house for Christmas. We started by digging through the carefully labeled bins in the garage.

6) The Christmas tree hunt at Danke’s, our nearby tree farm.

7) Outside Light Display

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8) Decorating the house Inside Tree

9) Saying Farewell to friends

Aside from finishing up Christmas decorating, I squeezed in a few farewells.

My neighbor’s children, Ariel (8) and Dee-dee (5), and I have a special relationship. My mom mentioned I needed to carve out a playdate with the two of them to have some closure before I depart. Ariel would have been devastated to come over, ding on the doorbell in anticipation of me being there only to find out I’m gone and won’t be back anytime soon. Thanks to the Dollar General, I picked up several ornament craft items for the girls and me to make. I hung out at their home, with their kitties wandering about the table and parents Jessica and Derek preparing dinner, while we colored. I haven’t colored in years! We really had a lot of fun.

Another highlight was dog-sitting for our other neighbors. After losing all 3 of their dogs to various old-age illnesses, Rich and Debbie finally found a rescue which tugged on their heartstrings. Mixed hound Penny was found running around the streets of Paris (that’s Paris, Illinois, 20 miles away) for over a week. She was a friendly little thing, about 6-7 months old, and is now a part of the Bernadoni household. Rich is a University of Illinois (U of I, in Champagne Urbana) graduate and faithfully attends all the home football and basketball games. U of I is 1 1/2 hours from Marshall. For the last home game, an all-day affair, I was enlisted to sit with Penny and keep her company. As a new canine to house living, plus being so recently adopted, Debbie didn’t feel comfortable leaving Penny all on her lonesome for 10 hours so over I came to spend the day with Penny. I had so many sofa cuddles and rub-my-belly sessions. (The latter being for the dog, folks, not for me.) What a sweetheart! I can’t wait to return in a year and see how much she’s grown.

My hometown church gave me a lovely planned send-off on Sunday, with prayers and a cake. The support I’ve been given, including permission to have an office space in the building (I took over the prayer room), has been such a blessing. To show my gratitude, I presented the congregation with the following, a Chinese paper cut made by Chinese Christians. This was my last one. It seemed only fitting that it be hanging somewhere in Marshall 1st as a reminder of my time here and the blessings I received from everyone.

Yet another in-person farewell (unplanned and a great surprise) was from Don Lindsay. Don and his wife, Kate, and I taught in China at the same time many years ago. They are now living in Indiana, not too far away, but we just hadn’t managed to get together. They visited briefly during Covid 2 1/2 years ago but since then, we’ve just stuck to emailing. Don was passing through my area, having attended a classmate’s funeral, and called to say he had pulled into my Marshall exit and was staying in one of the Interstate hotels. You’re kidding!!! We met for coffee at McDonalds the next day. What a wonderful way to spend my morning, reminiscing about China and catching up with all Don’s news of the family, grandkids and his church involvement.

Then we have goodbyes to Lucy and Beanie, my two rescues brought from China who now have a loving home with PJ. We four (the dogs, PJ and I) took a last walk around the Clark County fairgrounds on Wednesday afternoon. My heart misses them immensely but knowing they have the perfect home gives me great relief and great joy.

And my very last farewell I save for last:  The goodbye to my mom.

Who would ever have imagined my many years overseas would come to a sudden halt, stranding me in the States for 4 years?!  This incredible gift of being with my mom for so long has become  a treasured part of my adult life.  It was hard to leave her today, especially with Christmas around the corner, but we both knew it was time.  My 1-month yearly vacation time will definitely be spent with her.  And with this incredible technology we now have (cell phones and computers), connecting with her on a daily basis will be just as if I never left.

Goodbye, Mom and Bridget!  Time goes quickly.  I’ll be seeing you again in person before we know it.

It’s late in my nearby-airport hotel room and I have a 3 a.m. wake-up call.  Suitcases (2 at 50 pounds each) are ready to go and so is my VERY heavy backpack.  My colleagues are waiting for my arrival.  Let’s hope all the flights go well.

Next bit of news will be from Laos, everyone!  Watch this space for all the travel and arrival details.  I’ll have a lot to write about, I’m sure.