Alan had listened to me pleas for a road trip and agreed to take me to visit Marysville.
Alan is a most excellent driver and planned the trip with the precision of a military maneuver. The best rout was picked and he even 'googled' the address to make sure he knew which house to arrive at. Alan wanted to spare his vehicle the trip and hired the brilliant motor for the trip. So brilliant was the vehicle it barely had 100 miles on it.
I had told James that we would arrive in the morning and was a bit shocked to arrive and find that he had run off to do a bit of shopping and was not due to be back for hours. James rang up his wife and told her that I was standing outside her door and to let me in.
Poor Chandra. Chandra works at a local hospital as a night nurse and had just pulled a 12 hour shift. She was dead tired and had not been told I was coming...
Chandra being ever so lovely, pulled on some clothing and came out to meet us. "I rang up my husband and told him that it was terrible that he had not told me you were coming. Here you have the world's biggest 'clean freak' coming and I have worked all night and the house is a mess. You owe me..."
Chandra put the kettle on for coffee and Alan departed to do some exploring. This was going to be some visit.
Right, so the house was not perfect. How could it be when you live with a man who still believe the woman does it all? There are 4 children, and all of their friends that come by.
The house had that certain 'lived' in look. It is a nice house. The first house James and Chandra have bought. It is still a work in progress.
Chandra and I had a right good chin wag. Caught up on all of the gossip we did.
When the two youngest children got out of school, I was pleased that they loved the gifts brought and they were over the moon about all of the candy.
Jimmy is the youngest and has changed so much in the time since last seen. He no longer has red hair but is still quite the hand full. Haley is bigger and showing the signs of becoming a very pretty little lady. Alex is a very big 13 but still a wee bit on the shy side. Jamie is the oldest, being 16 and soon to be graduated from High School. James is no little girl. At 16, can only wonder at the many hearts she will break.
James did make it back from his shopping and we all sat round and enjoyed the visit. Hard to imagine how much time has gone by since we all met the very first time.
I could not help but notice all of the love that was going on in the house. The kids are well mannered and do not lack for attention from the parents. James and Chandra rule with a firm hand. It is very much a parent/child thing. James is very much in love with his wife and Chandra is well aware of James. Chandra told me that when she gets ready for her night shift, she makes a very deliberate effort to look as pretty as possible for that small window of time spent together.
The day flew by and I was sorry to see that it was time to go. We all made a promise that we would see each other more oft.
Alan drove us home in good time and I made sure that he was aware of just how the grand the day had been for me.
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