Surprise for Mom

Life is full of surprises. This weekend, thanks to some friends from home, my family gave my mom a nice surprise for Mother’s Day. I flew home for the weekend, never telling her that I was coming. When she saw me Friday night for the first time, she had to stare for several seconds before bursting into hysterical laughter… most likely because she had finally pieced together the reasons for Dad and Heather’s suspicious behavior earlier that day as they prepared to pick me up from BWI.

It was a perfectly lovely weekend, save the brevity of my visit. We couldn’t have had prettier weather, and everything appeared extra green. Mom’s backyard gardens were in full bloom and smelled of freshly-laid mulch. She’s known for her mini Eden and unique ways of showcasing flowers, such as in an old bedframe or the bowls of old toilets. It seems a little humorous, but if you know Mom you understand J On Saturday Dad, Mom, Heather, and I spent several hours biking some of the trails near the beach. Of course we had to stop in Rehoboth for some Thrasher’s fries and henna tattoos for us girls. Sunday morning we attended church, and I was hugely encouraged to reunite with old friends and church family. Then we had some of Dad’s family over for a classic homemade Sussex County meal made by Mom, who never fails to please anyone’s palate.

Those two very short days are now over, and I’m back in Glendale once again. It is amazing how modern travel allows a would-be three-day trip across the country by car to happen in just a few hours. I left Delaware at 3:30 a.m. this morning and arrived in Los Angeles at 10:30 a.m. The time zone change makes the travel time appear much shorter than it really was, but it’s still crazy to think that I left my family this morning and made it back in time for work! Most of the day felt like an out-of-body experience with the lack of sleep, but I made it.

This weekend brought me more reminders of how incredibly blessed I am. My family looks a lot different than it did five years ago, as does our church family. Change is never easy, but God’s given all of us a whole lot of grace to emerge from it stronger and more beautiful people. There is still a lot more to come, too, and I have a great deal of hope for that future. It only gets better.