Abby update - November 26

Shhhhhh--don't tell anyone, but Abby and I snuck away for an adventure today.  Recently while on a walk I discovered a small campus for Incarnate Word University tucked away beside the Christus Santa Rosa Hospital across the driveway from Warm Springs.  It's a really pretty spot, with large palms, oaks, and ash trees, a fountain, and even a swimming pool that needs some maintenance.  The campus doesn't really appear to be fully utilized any more, but it's a nice spot for walking and reflecting, and I was intrigued by a chapel that was locked when I was there.

 

Anyway, this morning, I told Abby that she, I, and the dogs were going to sneak across the road so that she could see the pretty courtyard area.  I managed to push her uphill across the various parking lots and then onto the campus, where beautiful red, yellow, and brown leaves made the sidewalks colorfully crunchy.  We were enjoying the mild temperatures and nice breeze on the hilltop when I decided to give the chapel door another try.  This time it opened!  And there were people inside!  I tied up the dogs to a tree, and Abby and I went in to join in a Ukranian Orthodox service.  It was only a tiny congregation and I was a little lost in the liturgy, but it was good to be in church again--just to sit and listen and pray and reflect.  So now there's another congregation praying for Abby, and, unknown to the Warm Springs staff, Abby and I (and the dogs) had a wonderful escape and rejuvenation just across the road.   (Well, maybe the dogs didn't think it was so great--I had to sneak out at one point and tell Arby to stop howling--that we were really coming back out for him...but they did enjoy visiting the fountain later.)

 

And that's what Sundays are supposed to be about--reflection and rejuvenation.  We hope that yours today was, and that you and Abby all have a productive and rewarding week coming up...

 

Love,

-the Linam family & dogs

 

WHO IS ABBY? - Page 2

 

Abby is not a "girlie-girl."  She wears her beautiful long blonde hair pulled back into a pony-tail nearly every day (her friends can tell you that, even if she starts out the day with it down, then it's back in a pony-tail by their first break).  Her favorite outfit:  a t-shirt and long basketball shorts with tennis shoes (or flip-flops) and usually a visor.  During her childhood she inherited closets full of beautiful, frilly, recital dresses and would usually only concede to a skirt and a top for "dress-up" occasions.  (In fact, I clearly remember a major battle one Easter morning when she was two and thought that the petticoat was just fine as an outfit--forget the beautiful hand-crocheted dress that went on top!)  Abby loves to be outdoors--whether for sports or spending time with her animals or camping--and I thought we would never make it through some of our hikes in Australia, since she wanted to climb every good climbing tree she saw.  Even now, as I take walks around the Medical Center area in San Antonio, my heart aches as I realize that I'm looking at a tree and thinking that Abby would love to try climbing it.  I will confess, that Abby has a couple of "girlie-girl" concessions--She doesn't like spiders or camping without toilets and she kind of has a thing for painted toenails.  Still, if your toenails are painted lime-green (as they currently are) does that make you a "girlie-girl" or just a typical 12-year-old??

 

 

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