Thank you, for prayers in helping us travel
over the river
and through the woods, to grandchildren and children’s homes we (went and) go! We learned from parents, and children, that 15-hour drives are possible, even in silver and golden years. How much thankfulness can we muster, to travel at speeds greater than walking speed and to be enclosed in a motor vehicle rather than a covered wagon? Val wondered about celebrating 30 plus years since our fortuitous connection at a single adult conference in Yakima, Washington. Commemoration offers reflection. How blessed are we, to celebrate five, plus two, plus one more remarkable child--their lives, their aspirations, their journeys, their connection to one another, and their growing, beautiful children!
Grateful we were, to enjoy school halting for a midwinter February week, entertaining paper heart-attacks with overflowing love messages, Lord Hill hiking, climbing, walking, biking,
hospitals, worship services, mattress moving, pillow placing, cupboard counting and all entailed as our son Tom wrapped up a chapter in his life managing three family-owned mattress stores.
Applause for valiant efforts to juggle and
handle many moving parts, especially a heart felt decision to wrestle what
might matter more than chasing the ethereal dollar--could it be a fleeting
butterfly of interacting with growing children? 
What is next on the horizon? With
grandchildren early March, we enjoyed Slow Down by Sissel and the Tabernacle
Choir. Our faith grows as we watch
heaven “guide the future as [it] has the past.”
Due to April’s welcomed invitation (to come north!) Laurene had
a blessing of connecting with Carma,
her sister and confidant to reminisce about
clubhouses and wanderings through vacant lots as “Lost Sisters,” in a Somersworth,
New Hampshire idyllic childhood home. A
brave granddaughter’s physical therapy session time brought more moments to
walk, play Parchisi, place puzzle pieces and try tasty treats.
More enjoyment ensued when Carma and Patrick
ventured through winding wooded trails to visit David and Megan and their new puppy
Augie. 
A traditional trait of traveling parents and grandparents has
been to find pet projects—what fun it is to watch and celebrate creative grandchildren
designing tools to empty and fill 50-gallon water drums, clean bathroom pipes, caulk
sinks and tubs, bake bread and sumptuous snacks, oversee and tidy tree
trimmings, and watch an eldest granddaughter prepare to depart, teach, lift and
encourage youth in a distant developing area.
What would we do without variety, recreation, wonder, work and prayer?
A miracle on our return
happened 20 miles north of the Utah border in a blizzard with Laurene at the
wheel heading south. With two hours left
of the hefty journey leg, brake lights halted our progress with temperatures
plummeting. What were our choices? Texts to children, grandchildren, siblings,
friends, “Will you please offer some fervent prayers?” Not just for Grandpa and Grandma, but for the
two-year-old baby in a car behind us with much less fuel and expected 22-degree
temperatures. As we hunkered, huddled, and
braced ourselves to face a frigid, frosty, freezing night, we watched flurries
abate directly. In remarkable response
time, a beckoned police car and snow plow braved burgeoning traffic to remove
snow from the east shoulder near a jack-knifed semi straddled sideways 200 yards
ahead. 
Bottle-neck broken; traffic inched, trickled, and finally flowed forward. After a few precarious hours ahead, our warm, protected mattress welcomed us home!
Landed for a moment, our vistas extend to New Mexico’s White Sands, a Mile-High City, to welcome cheer of Conference and celebrate Easter, springtime, and upcoming adventures for and with children, grandchildren.
Blessings! The Starkeys
