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“When is it Great Saturday? Is that your birthday?”

- Erica, on Good Friday

The hippopotamuses were facing away from us, at the far end of their habitat. Erica was sitting high up on Joel’s shoulders, and she said, “Hippopotamus, come in the water.” Joel said, “If you want them to hear you, you’ll have to say it a little louder.”

“Hippopotamus, come in the water,” said Erica, her little voice a little louder.

“Hippopotamus, come in the water,” said Erica, louder still.

One hippopotamus, and then the other, turned around and made their way down to the water and went swimming, and we got to see them up close.

With the college girl friends, that is. This trip was truly wonderful, for a lot of reasons.

• It was the longest that I’ve been away from home by myself since I became a mom. It was a nice break from my normal routine, not that my routine’s all that normal.
• Spending time with some of my best life-long friends, who came together, literally, from around the world.
• I got to drive around in a ‘67 Camaro with one of those best friends, in an off-the-beaten-path adventure to surprise-visit another close friend, who I called up out of the blue after not keeping in touch for several years, praying that her phone number would still work. It was so great to catch-up, reminisce, and to see where God has taken us since them. So many ways he’s blessed us and worked things out. . . amazing. Thank you, Jane, for letting us use the car! I got to cross one item off my list of things to do someday. . . drive a classic muscle car.
• It was amazing that even though eleven years have passed since we got to spend this kind of time together, it didn’t feel like it had been that long. We’ve kept up, to varying degrees, through e-mail and quick visits for all the weddings since then, but there’s nothing like actually being together. Right away, I felt completely comfortable in my own skin, being exactly myself. There was no pretense. There is nothing like being loved and encouraged by other women, and being free to be exactly who I was made to be.
• I was kind of caught off-guard, as we shared our stories, about all the pain and hard things that we have collectively experienced in the last eleven years. I shouldn’t have been surprised, because I know that life includes both amazingly good and heart-breaking difficult times. It is what it is, but there’s so much more that we can’t see unless we are looking for it. Our lives are in God’s hands, his perfect and loving care, even through tough things that we don’t understand. I left Oregon with my heart burdened in ways that I didn’t expect, but I hope that this will motivate me to keep in closer contact with my friends, to encourage, pray and help each other along the way.
• I will always be an east coast girl at heart, but I did like Oregon, and I got to spend three days on the Oregon Coast, see Multnomah Falls, and drive down Klickitat Street.
• Clam chowder.
• Jane’s cooking.
• Oregon has little drive-up espresso places everywhere. Really, everywhere.
• Even though we got a flat tire on the way to the airport and I missed my flight, I made it home an hour earlier than my originally scheduled flight.
• I got to watch “Chuck” on my iPod on the plane.
• I got to use the bathroom all by myself for six whole days. Really.

This is the Caterpillar Park, at least that’s what we call it. Whenever we visit, the caterpillar has to get fed.