Jun 19, 2010 We meet on Base

Let me begin by writing just a moment on the weather. As we descended on old England from the sky, I took pics of the billowy clouds that separated our plane from the sight of the ground. True to the saying, London is foggy, sitting in among the clouds as if the land has invaded the heavens.

However, as we exited the airport, it was bright, but cloudy. The temperature was in the low 50's, with a brisk wind. By the time we arrived on base we had traveled through two spurts of rain, and it was currently sprinkling rain as we waited in the visitor center for Derek.

The rest of the day consisted of windy, very cold down pours mixed with windy steady rain. As Nelle stated so sweetly when I mentioned the weather, "Welcome to my world in England."


Meeting Again

It was so good to see Derek as he walked toward the visitor's center to get a pass so we could come onto the base. Having left his car inside the gate, he walked up wearing khaki shorts being held on him by a khaki cloth belt he wore under his thermal, dark brown, long sleeve t-shirt. It was Derek - just as he had dressed the summer before basic, and as far back as 2005 when he had traveled to Mexico on his missions trip. Some things will always be the same - Derek's style is one of those things - and I love that about him.
I cannot express in words the joy i felt at that moment. Though it had only been 10 months since we had seen them, I missed him and Nelle so very much. As Derek hugged everyone, it was decided he would run the grandmas up to see Nelle, then come back for the men and take them to check into the hotel, then meet us again at the hospital.

When we arrived at Derek's car, I naturally went to the wrong door.
Silly American! Climbing in on the passenger's side of this small car, i quickly took my moment and snapped a picture of the happy driver - the new daddy. Derek loves driving in England better than the states. He is quite accustomed to it, and finds it natural to stay on the left side of the road. But as a passenger from American, i found myself screaming out, and ducking, finally just closing my eyes as he drove. Turning onto a street I thought we would be hit, then realized we weren't crossing onto the side with the traffic. It took several days before I got the hang of who was on which side, and could relax and stop hiding my eyes. However, later on in the week when Adam drove us to Ipswich, I relived some of the moments. But that story is for another time.

Meeting Drew

Now let me describe from this grandma's view, my precious Baby Drew. He is so adorable and precious beyond words. When I first saw him I realized he was exactly as Derek described. His every detail was put into words by the proudest man on the planet that day. His face and head were not big, as Derek's had been when he was born, but was quite proportionate to his little tiny body, as well as a babies head can be. Drew makes so many expressions. He will squench (yes, it is a made up word, but describes this face well) up his face wrinkly as if to squeal, then instantly relax it and throw his eyebrows upward as if to question any comments of "I think he's going to cry". He then coos and whimpers, constantly communicating with his onlookers. And when his beautiful big eyes open, he stares up at you as if you are his dearest and best friend, taking in all he is observing - this is much like his daddy did too. Baby Drew can capture your heart with his face full of expression. He certainly did this grandma's
















Now to speak on complexion, "is he white, or Hispanic looking?" can only be answered with "No, he definitely looks like an American Indian." With the dark hair and reddish golden skintone, he looks like a little Indian papoose all swaddled in his blanket. Others may not agree, as this seems to be an area of debate. But when I look at Drew, I see Elwood Wilson Tanner Sr., or maybe it's Granny Mae, as well as Derek and Jenelle, all mixed in. There is definitely a mixer of Indian. The Tanners & Chandlers both have Indian in their blood, and Jenelle's grandmother was full blood American Indian. So my baby Drew will be Grandma's little papoose. And grandma will love him and love watching him grow into a most handsome young man, taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of my grandson.