Just Like Having Lauren With Us - Almost

 Each morning, we join a Zoom call with our zone, a group of twelve young missionaries and us. It is always short. One of the fourteen of us gives a brief thought, says a prayer for all of us, and then asks someone else to do the same tomorrow.

It was SK's turn today. When he finished, he said that since we were down to such a short time, he would invite me to take tomorrow. I agreed, and we continued with our day. We received some packing boxes and tape from Amazon today and will pack them up tomorrow. I will send off to America early next week. The hope is that our very large suitcases will be a little more manageable to get through the airport(s).

I don't think that we have actually accumulated that much, but SK is concerned. So we will give it a try.

I wiped down the cupboards in the kitchen and washed tiles in the bathrooms. I am slowly getting there. At 10:30, the elders texted, asking if they could drop by at noon. I told them that would be great.

At noon, they rang our doorbell, and then the sisters rang as well. The four of them sat in the living room with us, the young men in their white shirts and ties, hair neatly trimmed, faces tanned from being out in the Oxford sun, shoes polished. The sisters looked lovely, hair shining and wearing much nicer clothing than we see out in the city. 

Our newest elder, Elder Ausmuth is from Texas, and so cute. He seems like a Texan, whatever that is. He is cheerful, willing to work, just slightly brash, and wide-eyed about being in Oxford.

We all sat visiting, and I thought having a generally good time. Finally, one of the missionaries broached the subject that was of concern to them.

They all thought that SK had said this morning that I should take a turn tomorrow because we had only 2 days left here in the mission. They panicked and thought they ought to come see us - one last time.

They were all so cute and so earnest - and sad! When they were gone, SK got broken up just thinking about them and their kindness. They all said that they had not served in any other areas with a senior couple, and thought they had been spoiled here, not only by the beauties of Oxford, but by the presence of surrogate grandparents.

Music to our souls

They stayed for about a half hour, and then were on their way to appointments. Before they left I invited them to dinner a week from Sunday. I told them we will just have a nice evening together. I will write in an Oxford book for each of them as a memento of this time and place, and our love for them.

As we watched from the window, they made their way out of the complex. SK turned to me, and said, "It's like having Lauren with us." 

I agreed. I think along with the core group of treasured grandchildren in Gilbert and Murray, we have adopted another twenty or so here. We will see them and hear from them less and less over the years, similar to our contact with our Danish young people. But we will remember them with love and gratitude. 

And we hope they will do the same.