Ruth had a wonderful group of friends and has been busy almost daily with activities with them to celebrate their graduation. On Sunday it was my turn to celebrate with her. I had a great deal of fun decorating and cooking for our family celebration of her graduation.
Last night we celebrated Ruth's graduation at Highland High. She graduated with honors and after a summer off she again becomes a FRESHMAN!
After a lost passport/visa Lincoln finally headed out yesterday for Ghana. He spent today at the Mall while he had a long layover in the U.S. Capital. Tomorrow morning he will be in Ghana to begin his work there. Here are some of the pictures he sent today.
Graham was in a special musical program for Kindergarteners this week. I'd like to also give a big shout-out to Mrs. Nichols, his kindergarten teacher, who has been an important part of the Whitney children's education for many years. She's one in a million--and Graham is too!
New Friends. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” This week has been such a wonderful reminder of how much we all just want to have someone to talk to and feel validated when we find someone who thinks the way we do. For that reason, I have had a plethora of amazing new friends join me for a short visit before they exit my car and go on with their lives and I go on with mine. The truth is that it is not uncommon now since I have been driving for a while to have repeat passengers. I am honored when they remember me and they are so happy to see me again. I feel exactly the same way. In a matter of minutes, we catch up on what has been happening and an animated conversation continues. Today I picked up a lovely lady who five years ago had a stroke. She was required to learn again how to walk and talk and much of her memories are no longer available to her. In spite of that she was so delightful and when we arrived at the drop off location, she opened the car door to get out and then stopped, looked back at me, and said, “You’ve got my number and if anybody gives you any trouble you let me know and I’ll take care of them. I’ve got your back!” I don’t have her number because when the ride is over any record of the person in my car is gone but it felt so wonderful to know that she stopped for a brief minute to say—I care about you! I love all my new friends. I hope they feel the same way about me.
A trip to the beach is a regular activity for the California Duncans. They headed over to do some exploring at Asilomar Beach. There they explored tide pools and walked along trails and boardwalks. They saw sea otters, a seal and unfortunately for Uncle Andy not many birds. But lots of flowers. After lunch they headed to Carmel and ended up at the beach there as well. At the end of the beach they saw a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Dance like no one is watching,
but text and email
like it will be read in court one day.
This week Lexy had a Senator from France come to visit in the French class she teaches at BYU. Here is a picture that they took while he was there.
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Aunt Becky sent this short video of Peter playing drums with the Junior High choir. Aunt Becky said he is the bright blur to the right. The North Dakota Duncan's now have all the instruments needed for their own family jazz band!
I have been a little under the weather this past week with a bladder infection and only picked up a few people during the week. In spite of the low numbers I met several people that I enjoyed very much. When people get into my car I often start the conversation by asking if they are a native Arizonan or a transplant from somewhere else. They often answer and then ask if I am native. I usually explain that I was born and raised here but when our children were young we moved to California where we lived for almost 40 years. This week I met two women who knew where Victorville and Apple Valley were. The first said that she and her husband lived in Adelanto while he was stationed at George Air Force base. I shared with her many of the changes that occurred once the base was closed. The other woman knew about Apple Valley because when she was younger she worked on Ronald Reagan's campaign to be governor of California. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans came to a fundraising event to support him and she met them and loved Dale Evans. Thus she knew about Apple Valley. (side note--Uncle Andy and Aunt Angela lived just up the street and across the road from the original house that Roy and Dale build and lived in for many years.)
This experience of transporting people has been very interesting and at times painful. Seeing how people live is often hard to grasp. I have discovered that there is a huge tent city just east of the state capital building. And believe me it is definitely large, filthy, and sad to see the people who call it their home. I meet senior citizens whose only income is the monthly social security check which is about $1100.00 a month and they rely on food stamps and Medicare and are dependent on others for a home or they live in old and run down motel rooms because apartment rentals are more than they make each month. I see often the ravages of drug abuse and mental illness that has taken their ability to escape the dark world they have become familiar with. I have listened as a number of passengers carry on sometimes heated conversations with someone in their imagination as they deal with schizophrenia episodes. On Wednesday I picked up a woman and drove her back to a group home where she lives. A few minutes into the ride a man started talking about a business issue and I did a double take because I knew that the woman I had helped into the car did not have that voice. It has honestly been an experience I have enjoyed but also have been saddened by some of the passengers that I have met. I don't have any solutions just lots of questions and opinions that mean very little. Mother Teresa once wrote, "The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our homes to remedy this kind of poverty."
and she laughs without fear of the future.
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