Today, we took a trip to Isabel, KS for a funeral. Now, that’s quite a distance from Wichita just to go to a funeral, but this was the mother and mother-in-law of special friends, and we went. Following the funeral, we were scheduled to travel cross-country to central Kansas for a pre-Easter dinner with the wife’s family. We would be taking roads we hadn’t traveled in awhile, and it would be good to see that country again.
On the way, we encountered a detour on Highway 42, and had to take a side trip down a gravel county road. That part of the state to the west of Rago is really pretty in the spring with rolling hills, pastures that are green and lush, and oil and gas wells dotting the landscape. A new feature we saw was windmills (the modern electric wind turbines) off in the distance to the south and southwest of Highway 42. That’s part of the new Flat Ridge wind farm that stretches across three counties in that area.
We arrived at the town about a half hour before services started, and the little church was already mostly filled upstairs. Being friends and not relatives, we willingly went to the basement where we knew the overflow crowd would be. They had a video down there, so we could be part of the services.
The church was one of the “old” kind…the kind you remember from your young years. We sat on wooden straight-back chairs that were rather haphazardly placed around the basement. The area was cool and damp. The basement showed its age and the effects of many, many kids and adults using it in the past. As time passed, more people joined us and the basement was pretty much filled by the time the service started.
The family was laughing at times and enjoying their time together before services started. The crowd was noisy also, shaking hands, visiting, and renewing friendships. The service itself was truly a time for celebration. The time was spent in a fitting and honoring tribute to a woman who was the matriarch of a large family that seemed to truly love each other and her. We sang congregationally, and even we in the basement were able to keep with the folks upstairs in acappella renditions of several older songs (Jesus Loves Me, It Is Well With My Soul, Life’s Evening Sun, etc).
After the services, we bugged out and north on a county road to catch the highway into Sterling. Again, beautiful country and a trip on a road we hadn’t been on in a long time. But we made it to the Easter dinner and had a great feast of ham, scalloped potatoes, “pink stuff”, Jell-o, green bean casserole, corn, pasta salad, and lots of great desserts…homemade apple pie, homemade scratch angel food cake, and other goodies.
There was lots of family there and it was good to re-connect with them. And the grandkids and younger ones had fun hunting Easter eggs outside. This meal on top of the cookout last night has put me way over my calorie count for these two days. Ugh.
All in all, a good Saturday. A trip down memory lane for part of the day…reconnecting and enjoying the day for the rest. Blessings.
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