4 Wheels 4 Girls

Early Thursday morning, May 12, after a long night spent seemingly in the middle of one of the runways, I crawled out of the RV and hopped on the shuttle to go from the long-term parking lot to departures at the San Francisco airport to catch my flight “home”. I went to Lansing (Iowa) to attend, and help out as much as I could, with a benefit that was being held for my brother and his family on Saturday. Greg was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor several months ago. He’s doing great, and given the effectiveness of the treatments so far and the importance of general good health, hard work, and strong will he will, no doubt, continue to do so for a long, long time. The treatments, though, are rough so it is difficult for him to work and get done all that needs to get done on the beautiful organic apple orchard that Greg and his wife own in Wisconsin. So. . . my siblings, mom, and several friends and coworkers have been meeting regularly for the past few months to plan a day of fun and fundraising to help them out. The benefit was a huge success. And I was really grateful to be there, to work closely with my amazingly organized and hard-working siblings, their spouses, kids, and extended families to do all that had to be done to make the auctions, raffles, and great dinner happen. It was really wonderful to be among so many who know and love Greg, and to experience the extent to which friends and family in that small community work together, to give of their time, talents and financial resources to help out when help is needed.

On our way to the airport, Mom and I took a detour through Viroqua, WI so I could see the house that my sister Barbara has rented and is using for the counseling business that she has just started. It is a gorgeous home, with lots of nice workwork. Though she is still in the process of furnishing it, etc. it already feels warm and comfortable. The requests for appointments are already rolling in so from the looks of it, the new counseling center is going to be a busy one.