Surprise Visit from the Ruckers

So . . . you have to know the back-story . . . My wonderful, long-time friend, Gloria Rucker, who lives in Washington state, had planned to come to Houston, while I was there with the kids. She was going to get a hotel room and stay for about three nights, so she and I could have some girl-time. We're long over-due for that! Then she was heading to San Antonio, where she was to attend a reunion of Battle of the Bulge veterans (her father was one of them, before he passed away) and their families.

However, Hurricane Harvey came, and Gloria wisely decided it wasn't the time to be vacationing in Houston. I was sad that we wouldn't see each other, but was in full agreement that it was a wise decision, considering the congestion and confusion still rampant in Houston.

But yesterday afternoon, not long after I'd gotten home from the kids' house, I got a call from Gloria. She and Ken, along with one of the Battle of the Bulge veterans and his son, were in Round Rock, about 45 minutes away from me, and were going to be driving through Temple on their way to Dallas. She wanted to know if we could meet up for dinner! I was so thrilled.

So, even though we didn't get our couple days of girl-time, I got to see Gloria AND Ken, and enjoy a wonderful time and good dinner at Olive Garden. Ken has been very ill, so it was a wonderful blessing to get to see him, share some good hugs, and recall some of the great history we all share. Sadly, Dan was in Houston for the race he's working, so missed out on seeing them.