A good friend is dealing with some tough things out of state, so while normally today she would have been giving a ride to a few people who don’t drive any more I was able to help. Or at least offer to.

Both ladies are in their 90s, so they’ve enjoyed a lot of life and now have challenges with things that are routine for most people.

I arranged with one of them a meeting time for pickup pretty quickly. The other, I called in the morning and again in the afternoon the day before they would need a ride. Didn’t answer, full voice mailbox so I couldn’t leave a message. Didn’t see that I’d called or didn’t recognize my number and didn’t call back.

This morning, I learn from the out-of-state friend that she’s hoping for a ride. Another call: we talk, pickup times get juggled, and everyone gets picked up and off we go.

My minor frustration went away as I texted my out-of-state friend that I’ll be fortunate to have a full voicemail box when I’m in my 90s – my family tree branches tend not to run long. If I live into my 90s, I will indeed have outlived several generations of ancestors.

My “reward”, if I needed one, was a quick conversation with one of the ladies about overseas travels. She and her husband had lived for a time in Thailand as diplomats. They attempted to visit Laos for a vacation and were turned away at the border because we didn’t have a diplomatic relationship with Laos at the time. So, they found a fisherman who took them across the river and into the country. “You snuck into Laos!!” was my astonished response. “Yes we did.” The things you get to learn when you’re willing and able to juggle a schedule….

On the news front, more people are seeming to have had enough and are beginning to take stands that are surprising in a good way. There’s a lot still up in the air, and a lot of struggle left to get through, but it’s enough to hold up hope for now.