You Lift Me Up

I love Chicago. But this time of year is trying. March teases you with a few pleasant days, but then cruelly makes it clear that it’s not truly Spring yet – not in Chicago, you fool. The dull gray, cold, damp, days drag on into April. Daffodils are barely poking their greenery into sight, but are a few weeks from blooming. When it came time to travel back to Arizona for a while, I was anxious to escape to sun and warmth.

Yesterday was a long travel day. At about 9:15am we caught the 80 bus west on Irving Park to the Blue Line station. We transferred to the el to O’Hare. Amazingly, Security at O’Hare was a breeze, so we waited about 2 hours at the gate until our flight departed. Upon arrival in Phoenix, we had about 45 minutes before our scheduled shuttle to Prescott (a 2 hour ride). Once in Prescott, we caught a taxi to our house, finally arriving home at 6pm local time (8pm Chicago time).

Knowing that the cupboard was bare here at the house, we headed immediately to the club for dinner. There was a crowd on hand for Prime Rib Buffet Night, and many people we know were in attendance. What actually caught me a little off guard was the warmth of our welcome back to Talking Rock Ranch…

As people realized we were there, they left their tables to greet us, with handshakes, hugs, and kisses. The warmth washed over us. We had a long chat with Chef, who was interested in where we have dined lately in Chicago. Several friends stopped by our table – one sitting down to visit for a few minutes. The food and beverage director and the bartender made a point of coming by to welcome us back. As we were leaving, we saw more friends who greeted us enthusiastically, and we both got hugs and kisses from our favorite server. We left the club last night with full tummies and full hearts (and a few invitations to play golf).

When we decided to invest in a home in Talking Rock Ranch and settle here, we knew that we had found a special place. What we didn’t realize is that we had found so many special friends. The more experience we have in the community, the more we appreciate how perfect it is for us and how uplifting to our spirit.

Thanks to a few of the people of Talking Rock who made last night an unexpected joy: Connie, Chef Richard, Ryan, Beth, Sara, Rose, Jayce, Terry, Jim, Kathy, Lonnie, Carol, Don, Bruce, Dean, Mike, and Jan. (I’m sorry if I left anyone out – I was kind of overwhelmed!)