June 19, 2010 - Continues

The day's activities for this Saturday, June 19th, were not over after meeting Baby Drew.  There was another who awaited a grandma's greeting, Onyx.  Derek took us back to the base hotel, Liberty Lodge, and asked if I would go with him to his house to give Onyx some "out of his kennel" time.  So, we dropped off Mike, Adam & Norma for showers and rest, gathered my things and headed to Derek & Nelle's apartment.  

The place was so cute with a darling kitchen, dining and living room downstairs, and 2 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, along with a large closet room Derek called "his".  Nelle had done a terrific job decorating.  The kitchen was done in black, dark red, and white.  The bathroom in the browns and greens.  Most stuff still looked new as they had not been used for even a year yet.

Nelle is very creative and has made this little place a wonderful home for her and her family.  I'm so very proud of her and how she has adjusted to married life and living overseas.  Derek tells me she is very organized and helps him with so much, and he loves her for it.  And now there is a baby too.  Wow!  All in such a short time.  I remember Nelle telling me that at last year's youth camp, which was the week before they married, she had been prayed for to have the grace to be able to do whatever she needed to, and to adjust.  She truly has walked in that.  She had told me while visiting earlier at the hospital that if it hadn't been for God, she couldn't have done it.  But He helped her all the way through it.  I love my daughter-in-law so much.  She is special to me.  And to hear her say this helped me to know the kids were doing well and gonna be okay, even with a new baby.  She knows Who to run to for help.  That is important.

Onyx, after being cuddled and petted by me, followed closely at my feet as Derek gave me the tour of the place.  Derek ran off to go check on Nelle, while I stayed to shower, and cat sit.  Onyx played outside the bathroom door while I showered and "knocked" on it often, placing his paw up under the door and pulling it toward him. After showering I went downstairs to the cooler part of his house to put on my makeup.  Not seeing Onyx, I called out several times before realizing he was peering down at me from the stairs.   Derek says he sits there looking down on his "minions" (this means those subservient to him for those of us who didn't already know that).  

When Derek returned, he made a few phone calls to Bekah and Aunt Jean to announce his son's arrival, giving details of height, weight, and a full description.  Then we headed back to get the others for a meal.  It had been decided that Nelle was needing her rest, so we would do better to go eat, and not return there tonight.  Adam and Norma were not up to the meal, so they decided to stay at the hotel.  Mike and I would go with Derek to get supper.  Derek wanted to go to none other than Taco Bell at Mildenhall, an AFB not far from RAF Lakenheath.  So off we went.  

Derek whipped and turned around the 'round abouts" and roads to get us there. I tried taking pics out the window on this trip.  Some turned out ok, most were blurrs. We sat at Mildenhall talkng of future opportunities for work and travel, and of course, of Nelle and Baby Drew. 

It was pouring rain when we left Mildenhall and headed off to find the Baskin Robbins for shakes for him & Nelle.  Derek wanted to take her one - chocolate - she preferred those.   These restaurants, Taco Bell & Baskin Robbins are found only at the AFB's.  You can't find them in the streets of the small towns we went through.  Though Ipswich, a more major city, did have a Pizza Hut, and a 24 hour store similar to Wal-mart, but that was the exception for the Suffolk, England area.  Not even Bury St. Edmunds, another larger Suffolk, England town, had Wal-marts or Taco Bells, though the did have Starbucks!  

We started to go back to the hotel, but Derek said he wanted us to hold our grandson one more time, and sit and chat with them.  Now understand that the sun rises in England by 4:30am, and doesn't set til after 10:30pm.  It was now going on 9:00pm, and was soon to hit me that I had slept none on the plane over, and had been up since 5:00am Friday morning.  Now I'm not sure I've got this figured right, but being it was 9:00pm on Saturday in Lakenheath, and they run 6 hours ahead of us in USA time (Central Standard Time),  I'm thinking it was 3:00pm in my head, and I had been up since 5:00am the prior day.  I know I was living on adrenaline when I told him that we would go visit. 

Mike and I enjoyed talking with them, filling them in on the news back home, as he asked about Bekah, and the youth group.  We talked and laughed until it was time for Nelle to nurse Drew again.  Then we headed back to the hotel.  But still there was more to come before I would sleep (nap) that night. 

Derek was taking us back to the hotel when he asked if I would again go with him this time to take Onyx for a walk at the Duck Pond, their favorite walking spot.  Now let me insert here that Onyx, unlike most cats, is trained to be a dog.  He walks on a leash, as well as the leash being tied to a door knob during the day allowing him access to only the places Derek & Nelle choose.  He also has a small kennel he is accustomed to staying inside.  So, it is necessary for Onyx to be walked to get the proper amount of exercise to exist.  I will also say that when Derek and Nelle are home where they can watch him, he is allowed off the leash to wander through certain parts of the house; thus, sitting on the stairs and peering down on his minions.  

The Duck Pond

It was around 10pm, and quite pleasant weather.  The rains had left and the air had a nice breeze to it, as we started toward the pond.  Though a cat on a leash is a strange site to see, Onyx seemed quite happy and uninhibited by his circumstance as we entered his familiar grounds.  He was ready to run, chasing flying insects that only his eyes could see.  He would run, Derek running behind him, through the trees close to the pond.  Every few minutes Derek would bring him over to the sidewalk to walk along side so we could visit.  The pond is small and the path around approximately 1/2 mile.  

As we walked and talked we wandered upon a bench where we sat to chat.  Asking "mom" questions, I probed for answers as to how he like the military, how Nelle liked it, how they were spiritually and in their personal relationships with God.  Derek shared freely as he spoke of setting standards, living what he believed, and prayer.  It was a good chat - a very special time for us.  I'm so grateful I had come and could sit and have the heart to heart talk as we had done so many times in the late evenings at home, back in his pre-military days.  
As we began our walk again a large number of pigeons took off flying overhead, making quite a lot of noise.  At this point Derek said, "Mom, take cover", as he reached quickly to place his arms over his head.  I was replying that the birds were already gone, when out of nowhere the noise began and countless birds filled the sky above heading for the pond and trees.  Derek humorously stated that it was those that return that you had to watch out for.  He had been bombed before and had learned when cover was needed.  We laughed together and headed to take Onyx back home, then drop me off at the hotel for the much needed sleep I was desiring by now. Derek would go back to the hospital to help Nelle with the baby through the night.