About a year and a half ago, my wife, Sue, got a call from her old college roommate.  They hadn't had contact in literal decades, but Suzanne contacted Sue to let her know she had recently had a stroke and was in rehab.  The two ladies conversed periodically over the next several months.

Simultaneously, and unexpectedly, we were invited to do some shows in Hopkinton, Massachusetts by our former pastor, Debbie.  When Sue was talking to her about scheduling the gigs, she realized that Hopkinson is where Suzanne was living.  A little more discussion, and it turned out that Suzanne was attending Debbie's new church.  With a little more planning, we were soon scheduled to do some shows in the Hopkinson area, including an adult day Care where Suzanne now spends her days. (Some good news: Suzanne will be getting her own apartment with a friend in a few days, and the need for day care will cease.)

We took our trip to Massachusetts last weeekend, starting with a an afternoon gig at the above mentioned day care.  This is a very unique type of venue, as the adults there are not necessarily elderly, but are there as they recover from surgeries, injuries, accidents, etc that make it hard - at least temporarily - for their care givers to be with them all day.  When we arrived, Suzanne was waiting outside for us, and for the first time in years, the college roommates were reunited.  

But of course this wasn't the only reunion. Debbie was our host for the weekend, and for the first time in a year and a half we got to spend some time with her, too. She is now a pastor of a Vineyard Church.  Her church was having an outreach on Saturday in a local park. There were games for the kids, free snacks, and then a very talented lyrical dancer from Deb's church.  This was especially a blessing to our daughter, Rose, who is also a dancer and is especially drawn to lyrical.  After the dance piece, we did a 50 minute show for about the 40 people who were present.  We have been utilized fro this type of outreach many times, and 40 is a good turn out for the first attempt. Our final show was a 10 minute 'special' during the Sunday service at the Vineyard.

While it was fun reconnecting with Suzanne and Debbie, this trip also allowed us to meet some new friends.  Deb arranged for us to stay with a family from her church.  Although the husband was away in Minnesota, we stayed with a lady and her two twin teenagers.  She is a doctor and an immigrant from the Czech Republic. She and her kids conversed with each other in a mix of Czech and English that was fascinating to listen to. They were a fun family to stay with, and it was nice for Rose to stay with a family that had teens.  

When the shows were over, we had one more reunion that was the best of all.  We travelled from Massachusetts to New York to see our middle daughter, Naomi, who we haven't seen since January.  More on that visit in another blog. For now, I'll just quote Paul Simon: "There has never been a father who loved his daughter more than I love you."