But John, Denver is a Long, Long Way

I don't know if my grandmother ever made it to Denver, but her bedroom is going. I know this because my son is leaving Austin and taking it there. That headboard, frame, slats, and nightstand are old, I'd guess at least 50 years, but sturdy. They were from Pop and Mamaw's guest room where I'd sleep when I went to spend the weekend as a kid. The wood is hard and the finish is white, even the slats are hard. It seems the wood was better then or at least things were better built. So Clay is off on a new adventure, even if a part of it is on antique furniture. It will be an adventure for Pam and I, too and we will miss him being just 2.5 hours away. It's more like 15 or 16 now. He is going to work on his masters degree up there. His job wasn't much of a job with no real prospects of advancing so he figured it was time to get another degree and really build a career. He is right, I just wish he were right right down the road. We didn't go to Austin as frequently as we probably could have and stay as long as we should have but the fact that we could go at almost the drop of a hat was nice. Austin seemed to fit Clay well. It had quirky places and people. He often swam in Barton Springs even in the winter and could ice skate in the middle of the summer. It has good live music and lots of hole-in-the-wall eateries that he loved and taught us to love, too. It was warm mostly. I've never been but I think that Denver is a bit colder. Oh, well, we gave him a coat for Christmas. The truth is that Austin is still only 2.5 hours away from us. The music will still be played, the funky joints with good food will still be serving. I still need to see the Bullock museum. But there will be less incentive to go that way now. Its all understandable and for a good reason, but a bit sad, too. But it was sad to watch Clay struggle with a dead-end job in an expensive city. It was tough to watch him work really hard knowing that there would be no immediate results from it. Some times you don't get to pick your sadness, it comes as it comes and you deal with it. So with Clay in Denver and Matt and his family (read grandson!) in Farmington, NM, Pam and I will be seeing new parts of the country we've not seen before. We will shop the Internet for discount tickets to places we'd hardly think about a year ago. No we can't jump in car and run to Austin with $40 in my pocket. We will save a little more and plan a little more before we take a trip. But we will because that's what love does. I guess the real adjustment for me is simply the distance. The possibility of getting to Clay in a short span if needed existed. No longer will it but we will do what millions of other families do in similar situations. I also have no doubt that they wish either openly or secretly that their loved ones were closer. Yes, I realize that distance is relative, pun intended. Thousands of people have the objects of their love scattered around the country and around the world. Thousands of them are currently in harm's way. The distance is the joy-stealer, the doubt-incubator, reaching-but-not-quite-grasping shadow that throws its dimness on even bright reunions. Life has its shadows and one learns to deal with them. I heard about another shadow long ago that threw its darkness over the throne of heaven. The distance was not from place to place but an even greater distance-- from heart to heart. With mankind having no hope of spanning the eternal distance he had created, God himself made the trip and made a way back home. The distance was not so great that love couldn't cover it. Looking out from His throne, the Father of Light and of men, Choose to make Himself known and show us the way back to Him. Speaking wisdom and truth into heart of peasants and Kings He began to unveil the Word that would change the course of all things.... Third Day At the end of a day of hauling off junk, gifting Goodwill, and packing Mamaw's bedroom suite into a moving pod with a few other things, I prayed for Clay in the street at the back of my pickup. I don't remember the words much but I do know that at that moment, distance wasn't a problem. And if I understand the heavenly Father's Word, it really never should be. Cos