Bottom Line: Back in Georgia, everything unloaded, big items in place, old items to new homes
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| On the road again with Vern |
Sunday evening friend Tim and I flew Delta to Little Rock to retrieve the furniture and personal items still in the condo. While waiting in the Delta boarding area, classmate Israel and his son Jacob came to catch the same flight to Arkansas enroute from NYC. Israel was glad to see me but was very dismayed to hear about Deb.
When we arrived in Arkansas our friend Carla and her son picked us up at the main airport in Little Rock (LIT) which was recently renamed in honor of the Clintons. Initially, following standard naming protocol, it was to be named the Hillary and Bill Clinton International Airport. However, there was a real uproar in town because locals were afraid it would become known as Hil-Billy International, so they reversed the name order.
We left the big airport and Carla drove us to the smaller airport where LWC (Little White Car) was parked. Then Carla followed us to the wonderful Mexican Restaurant we had eagarly anticipated...which closed as we were walking in. So, off to a pizza joint. After all, it was after 9 pm on a Sunday night.
Thanks Carla and Samuel!
Tim and I stayed at the condo. We hopped up at 6 am and had breakfast at IHOP. We were at the uHaul place soon after it opened. We soon had our truck back at the condo. Both of Carla's sons volunteered to help us along with neighbors. A friend from 1972 named Buster Godbee called and soon was over helping along with our condo neighbor.
The condo was furnished with new furniture that Deb picked out. Back home she had wanted to replace some items for years. So, I brought the new items back to Georgia and replaced the old stuff with the new that Deb loved for the 6-7 months we had it in the condo.
We did not know that Deb would be gone so quickly, but even so, she enjoyed picking out the condo, the furniture, and her beloved treasures from the Hillcrest junk store. You see, Deb had very short endurance, and on Sundays after leaving the hospital we would drive by the junk store where I could park just outside the door and help her into the store where she would look over that week's offerings. She would pick out inexpensive decorator items for the condo like ten dollar lamps and small tables.
Well, we didn't need those items back in Georgia, so I called the store owner who came to the condo and bought them all back. He say's it is common in his 30 year store operation to buy and sell the same items over and over again. It did us a great service because he cleared it all out of the condo.
After packing up and saying our goodbyes, we hitched LWC to the big truck and hit the road. The route is basically about 550 miles thru Memphis,Tn, Oxford,Ms, Tupelo,Ms, Birmingham,Al, and into Atlanta. We left Little Rock about 11:30am and hit our Georgia home 12 hours later around midnight. Then I drove Tim home.
Early this morning some friends came over and helped unload the truck, haul out the old, bring in the new, and encourage me greatly. I dropped the truck off 25 hours after leaving Little Rock. What a trip!
Now tonight as I sit in Deb's sun room, the old couches have been replaced by Deb's new ones and it looks so good. She would be so proud and I am ever grateful that her sense of decor and good tastes will live on. Deb had very high standards and I miss her so!
Son Stephen came down this afternoon and we had a delightful visit and some Chinese food. He has to work tonight.
Blessings! Special thanks to all who helped us!
