A visit with Dad & Lena

June 21, 2008

This week is a busy week with the Saddleback Conference but I thought I would get a head start and visit with Dad and Lena since I was at least in the same state.

I flew in early, grabbed a rental car and showed up at their door by 10:30am. Lena made a special treat, homemade empenadas. They were fantastic! I hadn't had any that good since our trip to Argentina.

They are both looking pretty good but Dad still could use a few pounds. Later in the afternoon Lena got a call from her grandson Tyler who lives in Eugene, Oregon. He was able to get on stand-by and wanted to know if he could spend the night and then get picked up by his dad the next day. The answer was, "of course". It was so evident that Tyler holds a special place in Lena's heart but the way she lit up when she saw him. But then I'm sure that she does that for all of her grandchildren.

Tyler and I hit it off immediately. He reminded me so much of Daniel. After Lena and Dad went to bed, He shared stories about what he is doing in school and the direction he sees for his life. We talked until almost midnight, which was pretty amazing since I was up at 3:00am this morning in order to get last minute things done before I left. I told him many things about Daniel and the similarities I saw between the two of them - he said "I've got to meet Daniel." Perhaps someday Tyler.

The next morning we attended their church together. Tyler and I were probably the youngest people in the congregation but then we found out that the contemporary service was the second one and they have a lot of young people attend that one. We were done fairly early so we went to brunch at a restaurant that Tyler loves - it was kind of like Sweet Tomatoes. After seeing him eat a 2 huge plates of waffles with fruit and about a 1/2 pound of whipped cream (real stuff, not the kind in a can), and then another plate full of biscuits and gravy, I knew that he must meet Daniel. The two of them could clear out a buffet!

Before his dad picked him up, Lena challenged him to a game of Trouble. I have never seen this competitive side of Lena before, but it was fun. Poor Tyler, he lost all four games. After Tyler left we settled into a quiet evening of news and 60 minutes.

The next morning we had another lovely morning on the patio with coffee and fruit. Dad had to get the car ready for travel since Dad and Lena were having to go up to Yucaipa to visit her brother Basil. Basil is dying of stomach cancer. He had surgery about 6 months ago but is on the decline and Lena wanted to have at least one last visit with him. In your prayers, please lift up Basil and the family.