Saturday, February 3, 2018
Goodness! It is nice to be back in Florida with the warmer temperatures and nice sunshine. The low last night was 52 and the high today about 65. It is so much nicer than the 31-32 degree lows we were having in Tuscaloosa. Of course tomorrow is suppose to be rain but guess that means we can get a nice Sunday afternoon nap. We shall see.
We both slept better last night. Really, the first good night of sleep since Mama Ruby’s death. And there were no 4:00 am trains like in Tuscaloosa. You know when living there we never heard those trains, but we sure did this time. So today we slept in and started the day slowly. About mid-morning we went for a walk around the church campus to see if anything had changed. We noticed a few things but not too much. We didn’t see much in the way of hurricane damage at the church or the RV park. After our walk we did the remainder of our setup chores such as tire covers and outside rug. It was almost dark when we got parked last night so we did just the minimal and finished up this morning. After that we ran some errands, went to the grocery store and drove around town a little to re-familiarize ourselves with the area. 
This afternoon some former NOMADS came over to visit with some of our team members and then we all went to dinner together at Hardwood Smokehouse. It’s a bar-b-que restaurant and we had a sampler platter with brisket, pulled pork and ribs all of which were very good. Really good food! And we have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
We said we would catch you up on some of last week. Of course, the first few days are still too painful to talk about much, but Anne and her brothers tried to assure that Mama Ruby’s Celebration of Life was all that she had wanted and requested. There were a lot of friends and a lot of family and things got a little crazy at times. Wood Manor was full with no more room at the inn and a lot of the family had to stay in hotels. However, most of the family gathered back at Wood Manor after the service Saturday. Mom’s church furnished food and we all spent the afternoon and well into the evening sharing good memories of Mama Ruby and good family times. We have been very blessed to be apart of a wonderful family.
Sunday morning we went to First Methodist for church and even though it wasn’t “our” church, it did feel good to be there. By early afternoon all the family had departed and we started the cleanup process. Unfortunately, the water heater went out. We have a 30 amp connection at Wood Manor but not sewer so we shower in the house. So no hot water heater means no hot showers, and since Mama Ruby’s house has hydronic heating, no heat for the house. So, no washing all the linens, towels, and cleaning until we got the water heater repaired. Sonny ordered the needed part Monday and Max and Sonny got the water heater working again Tuesday night. Wednesday and Thursday were spend doing laundry and cleaning. Since we couldn’t do much at Wood Manor on Monday we drove to Trussville and Pine Mountain to visit our other three LOLs.
As a result of the 2011 tornado, Tuscaloosa put in a greenway with a walking trail that starts about two blocks from Mama Ruby’s house. We walked the greenway at least once everyday the weather allowed. It just so happens that the path leads to a Cookout restaurant on 15th Street. Nasty traffic but oh so good milkshakes. After discovering the milkshakes we made two trips everyday, once for a milkshake and again to walk off some calories.
So that is a brief synopsis of a very long and at times, very painful week. It was also a very precious time of remembering. Time and God will soothe the pain and we will be left with the memories.
Remember to be in prayer for services tomorrow. Pray for our pastors and for our hearts to receive what God has for us.
RVing With a Purpose 