Yesterday was Aunt Bernice's birthday. I can't believe how much I miss her. I miss talking to her on the phone. She was such a dear friend. I miss her encouragement and wisdom. She made me laugh. Most of all I miss her understanding. I'm especially thankful for all the times I got to be with her at family gathering in Cheyenne.
I
really wanted to go to her 80th birthday party back in 2013. Mark and
Tiffani bought my plane ticket, and that was so thoughtful.
Unfortunately I never made it, the Oklahoma airport was shut down
because of tornadoes in the area. I spent the day in the Denver airport,
sad day.
This was from a blog post:
Thursday's Thoughts ~ Tornadoes
Well... last Friday I was bound for
Oklahoma so I could attend my aunt's 80th birthday party, when a little
thing called a tornado changed my plans.
Aunt Bernice and Me last summer
The plan was to fly to Denver, have a
short layover, and then onto Oklahoma City. My flight from Salt Lake to
Denver was delayed for over two hours because of high winds in the area.
When I arrived in Denver, the agent said we would board in about 30
minutes.
I soon found out that there were severe
thunderstorms in the Oklahoma City area, so we would have to wait for
the weather to clear up.
About six o'clock we heard a tornado was on the ground.
The passengers at the airport were evacuated to
an underground tunnel and the airport was closed.
So many families have damaged homes and suffered tremendous losses from the storms.
After all that happened last Friday, I'm
feeling extraordinarily grateful. Even though I was disappointed that I
didn't make to Oklahoma, I know I was protected. My brother, his son,
and family drove all the way from Cheyenne, and made it safely to
Oklahoma, something else to be thankful for. My aunt and her family in
Oklahoma were also safe.
I was at the Denver airport for about 8
hours. There was a flight back to Salt Lake City departing at 9:00 with
only two seats left. I claimed one of them and was glad to be headed
home or so I thought. I didn't actually get on the plane until until
about 11:30, ugh! I was so happy to see Tim, it was a loooong day. We
pulled in our driveway about 2:00.
I was also sad because Mark and Tiffani
gave me the airplane ticket for Mother's Day. I thanked them for the
trip to Denver, HAHA! It really was so generous of them and I appreciate
their thoughtfulness. Maybe another time...
We had tornado warnings in Cheyenne
many times. We saw funnel clouds form a lot but they rarely made it to
the ground. Not much you can do about
the weather.
I love you Aunt Bernice, safe a place for me at our Heavenly table... and some strawberry rhubarb pie!
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