The Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

So… here’s a question I never dreamed that I’d be asked:

“How does it feel to be the mom of a guy who wrote his own original music for / and performed with a professional symphony and choral group?”

Let me backtrack just a bit, for any of you who might be lost. Back in the fall of 2011, Tony Memmel (our son) worked with the Madison Youth Choirs as their “Artist in Residence.” Tony met and mingled with the various groups of kids, and worked with the directors to teach the children his own music.  The three concerts performed that day turned out to be inspiring, amazing and special.  

That day, Tony was approached by one of the dads who happened to be the conductor of the “Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra.” He loved what he’d heard and seen during the concert, and knew that his daughter had enjoyed the experience. He asked if Tony might be interested in someday working with his group as well. Tony said yes!

Tony had a lot of work to do. He needed to decide which of his songs would translate best into orchestral and choral works. After choosing five pieces, the challenge began – he needed to write the music - all of it. He wrote parts for violins, cellos, string basses, drums, piano, oboe, etc. He wrote vocal parts for sopranos, altos, baritones and basses. He submitted everything to the conductor (the dad from Madison) and he and Tony consulted together to ensure all the creations melded together.   

The concert date was set for March 15, 2014. Tony Memmel and his Band, which includes his wife, Lesleigh on piano and back-up vocals, and their friend/drummer, Brian Farvour, would play alongside the Sheboygan Symphony & Chorus.

On Saturday, Todd and I picked up my dad (Tony’s grandpa) and we drove the 75 miles north. The conductor held a casual coffee/dessert session prior to the concert. Almost 100 ticket-holders met to listen as he described the pieces of music that the groups would be playing/singing that evening. When he got to Tony’s pieces of music, he asked for Tony & Lesleigh to go up to the front. He interviewed them with questions like how they met, what their musical backgrounds consisted of, what inspires him to write good songs, their affiliation with the Lucky Fin Project and the work that the organization does, etc. Both of them introduced their families, and I felt so proud to stand up with Todd, and show the room that this handsome, talented young man was our son; and this lovely young woman our daughter-in-law.

During intermission, the stage was set with the choir’s risers, the grand piano, and Brian’s drum set. We socialized with so many who had come out to support Tony – family members, old friends, people from our church - even our (now-retired) pastor who had baptized and confirmed Tony, and married him and Lesleigh. One Lucky Fin mom even flew in all the way from the east coast to be a part of the weekend.

When we took our seats I knew that the moment had arrived - ‘this was it.’ As always, I lifted up a silent prayer for good health, strong voice, and confidence. My heart skipped a beat when the kids took the stage. They looked so good – Lesleigh in her red dress and black sweater, the cowboy boots on her feet from when we shopped in Nashville; and Tony in his black pants and vest, with a nice shirt (not plaid this time) and tie. The conductor raised his arms and began the Overture to “Here We Go.” The strings struck up their chords, sounding like a day dawning, a sun rising, and from there the music built. By the time they got fully into the songs with all of the instruments playing and all of the voices harmonizing, tears rolled from my eyes and I just sat back and enjoyed every minute.

For those of you who’ve read my book, “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference,” you know that in Chapter 53 I reference Tony’s ability to write music. Just like Todd can envision a construction project in his head, with every nail in its final place, Tony can envision in his mind, a piece of unwritten music – solos, harmonies, instruments, etc. The same gift, but different. Here’s the link:  http://www.amazon.com/Five-Fingers-Ten-Toes-Difference/dp/1478368055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395179532&sr=8-1&keywords=katie+kolberg+memmel

In my opinion, the symphony/orchestra performance proved that theory a hundred percent. And this post would not be complete without a shout-out to the symphony's conductor, Dr. Kevin McMahon, who was able to share Tony's musical vision. He worked with his musicians and made the music sound amazing. Thank you so much...

I know that I’ve said this before, but I feel it bears repeating… when my son was a few hours old, I had his entire life in question. Without a left forearm or hand, how would he ever play sports or music? Would anyone ever love him? And of course, by now, you know the answers… In 2009, without a left forearm or hand, he married Lesleigh, the love of his life. She sings and plays piano in his band, she’s his biggest fan, and has his back in all situations. Without a left forearm or hand, he learned to play the guitar, has a beautiful voice, and has recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue more music. And last Saturday night, without a forearm or hand, he performed his pieces for an audience of 700-plus, with a talented group of 100 instrumentalists and vocalists.  

Suffice to say that yes, I cried all those years ago; but the tears I’m crying now are for a whole new beautiful reason. Now I ask questions like is there anything that he won’t do? And I think you all know the answer to that.

So let me go back to the initial question of this post:  “How does it feel to be the mom of a guy who wrote his own original music for / and performed with a professional symphony and choral group?”

My answer is this: I feel that God is good and faithful. I feel proud that Tony has worked hard and doesn’t quit. But most of all, I feel blessed – blessed beyond measure.

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, go to her website at www.katiekolbergmemmel.com   

Life All Patched Together

You know, it’s funny… not haha funny, just interesting…

When I string together all of the snippets and pieces of my life, it creates quite a scene. I was going to say it makes quite a “Tapestry,” like Carole King used to sing about, and that is an amazing word and an amazing way to view life, for sure… patches (experiences) sewn together to make something beautiful and warm.

When I was a younger person, I never thought that where I was going or what I was doing, thinking, or feeling, was all that interesting. But now! Let me tell you that now, at age 52, I look back and say, yes, I have done that – yes, I have gone there – yes, I experienced that – yes, my heart broke, and yes, it mended because of someone or something… And I’m glad.

For this blog post, I’ll only go back as far as my marriage. I’ve been reflecting this weekend because me and ‘the old man,’ (a.k.a. Todd) met 34 years ago on February 28, 1980. My entire adult life is tied to him and him to me. That might sound sort of ‘dullsville’ to some; but I’ve come to realize that it’s actually pretty cool. We’ve seen each other through an awful lot: job layoffs, home buying and building, the births of two beautiful kids, overwork, underpay, vacations, deaths of parents, laughs, tears, bad arguments and great make-ups - and more.

Sometimes when we were deep into the thick of things it seemed like days droned on forever. But they didn’t. The sun always set, and eventually rose the next day – same 24 hour period. And now when we look back it seems that even those days flew. Isn’t that strange?

Sometimes it felt like we never went anywhere interesting. As a young stay-at-home mom I wished we’d vacation more often. Yet, when I think about it, we’ve been to so many places – Canada and Mexico - and at least 20 of the states between California and Connecticut – some (like Florida) – multiple times. As our kids grew up and moved away, (Megan east and Tony south) they provided us with locales and purposes to visit that we might never have seen or realized. We never know what might happen to provide us with a good memory, trip or story.

We’ve cheered for our kids at soccer, basketball and baseball games. We’ve cheered for the Waukesha North marching band in Pasadena on New Years Day and in New York City on Thanksgiving Day. We’ve cheered for our favorite professional teams at the famous Lambeau Field, Milwaukee’s own Bradley Center and Miller Park; and I even took in a Brewers game at Yankee Stadium once. Awesome!

 

We own a boat that has taken our family on adventures (some more fun than others, but always adventures nonetheless) that many only read about (and some only want to read about) – from the locks on the Mississippi River (from LaCrosse all the way to Stillwater on the St. Croix), to the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, to Green Bay and up into Door County. Todd and I went to the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior and explored the famous sea caves.

As a couple Todd and I went to the top of the arch in St. Louis, rode the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls, and observed the crazy/beautiful animals at the San Diego Zoo.

See what I mean? Over the span of 34 years, the experiences begin to really mount up. I don’t know if it’s age or maturity or experience or what – but I really believe the old Ecclesiastical teachings…  “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven. There’s a time to be born and a time to die, a time to sow and a time to reap, a time to cry and a time to dance.” And for us, there’s a time to travel and a time to stay home. There was a time to be active in our kids’ lives and there’s a time to let them go and be... and a time to re-create our own life.

And when you do that, when you string your life all together some day, even the days that seemed like they went on forever, I hope that your story makes a beautiful tapestry too.

Here’s to more smiles than tears!

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, visit her website at www.katiekolbergmemmel.com 

Using the Cold for Good

Just in case you haven’t heard (and I know that you have heard) it’s been a long, cold, snowy winter here in Waukesha, Wis. I could go on and on about the negatives of that reality, OR I could (and I will) tell you a way that this cold snap served to improve my quality of life.

Long story short – I’m getting organized!

Let me take a quick poll. How many of you have counter clutter? Raise your hands. Okay, good, so I see I’m not the only one. These past weeks of cold and snow-filled days served as a great time to shred old papers, file others, and hopefully not get the two categories confused ;)  (eeek!)

I took this frozen tundra time of life to wade thru old bank statements, statements so old that I will not be divulging their years. Suffice to say that I feel much better now, and much more “in control” of my bank statement life (wipes sweat from brow because finances are a HUGE issue and not one to be shluffed off for so long). It was interesting though, even with what I just said… most of my calculating has been very accurate. I’ll even go so far as to say I impressed myself with my bookkeeping accuracy. BUT (and here’s the interesting part) the places that I found a few errors in my accounting were during hectic and stressful times of life - a week before or after a major event – say a wedding or a funeral, a graduation or a move. This is good to know about myself. I need to be extra diligent at busy times, to ensure I don’t make foolish mistakes. Good to know now that I plan to account every single month! (at least until I get busy) (then every two months) (uh oh, this is how the trouble began in the first place!) lol

Another project I undertook was transferring all of our family’s names, addresses and phone numbers into a new address book. Do other people do this too? I’ll write down a name and phone number on a scrap of paper, and rather than enter it into the book, I’ll shuffle that paper around for a reeeeally long time. If I pick the book up in a hurry, those scraps of paper usually flutter to the floor and either get lost or stepped on. So I took this cold weather opportunity to go through all of the paper scraps and get them organized.

It was so interesting because I haven’t done this project in quite a while, and I realized that so many of our siblings, friends, nieces and nephews have moved around a lot. It’s probably best to write an address book in pencil because so many of the entries get crossed out and adjusted over and over and over again, until people finally settle into a spot where they remain for a long, long time. There were quite a few names of people we never see or hear from anymore. There are as many reasons for this as there are people, but due to moves, job changes, kids growing up, divorces, etc. there are people we may never see again. Strange, isn’t it? There were days that we sat in a living room, on our driveway, or around a campfire, watched our kids run around, exchanged stories and made memories; but sometimes people are only placed in our path for a short time. We remember them and the experiences we shared, but they’re not permanent. But on this cold afternoon, it was fun to think about them again - and smile.

Anyway, to be true to my project I got honest with myself, and eliminated some of those names from my new address book. It hurts a little, I’m not gonna lie. But I must say that my countertop looks better already, and seems lighter without the fluttering clutter.

HOWEVER, should those people ever contact me with new information, I promise they’ll be right back on a new scrap of paper, stuffed loosely into my new address book – just until I take the time to permanently add them in ink, during a Wisconsin winter cold snap – in 5 or 10 years, tops!  ;) 

Hope all’s well (and warm) in your necks of the woods.

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.”  For more information, go to her website at: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com   

 

 

Happy Who (I mean New) Year! 2014

Happy New Year!

I’m sitting over here typing, wearing a pointy hat and blowing a party horn (OR, even better, blowing one of those curly-cue thingies!) I’m nothing if not festive at New Years! ;)

I know, I know, it’s already well into January. You’re probably thinking ‘where in the h*ck has she been, for cryin’ out loud…?’ And you would be correct to wonder that – in a way. But after all, I am a woman, and it was the holidays, and women at the holidays can be very very busy! (Yes, so can men, but perhaps that’s another blog for another day…)

I’ve got to say that many many moons ago, when the young Kolberg clan celebrated Christmas, my mother made it all look easy. It probably wasn’t easy, but I was just too little, busy or self-absorbed to notice. She cleaned the house, baked five or six types of cookies, taught Sunday School and participated in the Christmas program at our church, she sent out cards, she shopped and wrapped and … well… whatever else women do to make Christmas merry for their families, I guess.

When I got married I continued with those same traditions. Maybe I thought that it couldn’t really BE Christmas without all of the above. But I began to see that December became a very grueling month. For those of you who know me, you know that cleaning the house (in and of itself) is a feat for me. I baked some cookies (but more like two or three kinds), I sent the kids to Christmas program practice but didn’t teach for more than one year, I shopped and wrapped… and cards – oh my goodness – cards have become quite the project! By the time I sign each card with a personal greeting, find a worthy picture (this year we used a shameless ‘selfie’), create a dreaded Christmas letter for those who don’t know what’s what with our family… well, we’re talking HOURS, I mean DAYS, of work. (Well, not DAYS, really, but you know what I mean…)

Actually, I’m really kidding. I totally enjoy Christmas and all of its fun, secular activities. 

But my favorite part of the whole season is the quiet church service on Christmas Eve, when we all light candles and sing “Silent Night.” If every other tradition faded away, that’s the only one I’d want to/need to keep. It’s what it’s all about. “…radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus Lord at thy birth…”

I think that Dr. Seuss had it beautifully and brilliantly right. If you took away all of the “presents and tags, packages, boxes and bags,” (including the roast beast), the Who’s would still gather together, join hands and sing…

“Fahoo Foray, Dahoo Doray, Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day…”

Anyway, here’s to a great year in 2014. I have high hopes!

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, go to her website: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com 

Thanksgiving, Part Three: Clara

Thanksgiving, Part Three:  Clara

Back in the spring/summer of 2012, Megan and Joe became affiliated with a group called “Guiding Eyes for the Blind.” It is an organization that provides service dogs to those in need. They breed the dogs with the finest temperaments, hoping for the greatest possibility of sweetness and success. Most of the dogs are pure-bred Labradors, either black or yellow.

The kids learned all about Guiding Eyes’ procedures, thought it sounded like a wonderful organization, and volunteered to foster one of their puppies. Megan and Joe had to be interviewed and qualify for that job, committing to a year-and-a-half of puppy shenanigans, weekly training sessions, care, love, and finally, releasing the dog back to Guiding Eyes for the final intensive finish.

Todd and I questioned her. “Do you really think you could raise a puppy to the age of 18 months and then let it go? Isn’t that going to be really hard?”

And she replied, “Yeah, it will be hard, but just think how awesome it would be if the dog does well and makes it through the program – it will go on to really help someone who needs it.”

So in August of ’12, at the age of ten weeks, ‘Clara’ came to live with them. She’s a heart-breakingly beautiful yellow lab. The kids lived up to their obligations and took her for all of her training sessions, made sure she got good care and love. They learned so much about raising a dog. The program insists on completely positive reinforcement, never saying “No,” always using diversion. At first the kids wore a pouch around their waists which held a portion of Clara’s daily food allowance. Whenever she did anything remotely good, she got a reward. Before you knew it, she was always right there by their side. Todd and I met her last October, when she was four months old, and she was already doing well then. Here she is, in her bandana...

                                              Joe, Clara (4 mos. old), Megan

Because the training is specific and intense, if Megan and Joe needed to travel, another Guiding Eyes family took the dog for the duration. Likewise, they ‘sat for’ a number of dogs throughout the year. It was actually a good thing for Clara to be with other people from time to time, since it wasn’t technically their dog, but the program’s dog.

Clara is almost 18 months old, and the kids got notice that she’s nearing the end of her stay with them. At first they were told “January” as a departure date, but then it got moved to “mid-December.” When Todd and I were out there over Thanksgiving, Megan asked if we’d like to attend one of the Guiding Eyes graduation ceremonies. It wasn’t for Clara – it was just a ceremony so that we could see the complete cycle of how the program works. The four of us went.

Once a dog enters the program, it could become a seeing eye dog, or a dog that senses seizures, a companion for a child with autism or another issue, a companion animal for the elderly, some have even gone into government work. Their path is unknown until they can be evaluated to see its strengths and weaknesses. For Clara, time will tell. But for the dogs that were graduating on that November Saturday – oh my… they were going off to live with their new ‘people,’ all of which were blind.

It started out with a slide show, and the first song was Jack Johnson’s version of “We are gonna be friends.”  As the images flashed on the screen – the puppies with their trainers (the work Megan and Joe have been doing), and watching the dogs grow, train and work – My eyes already started to water. I reached into my coat pocket to rummage for a Kleenex. Megan, who had been told how emotional the day could be, handed me my very own plastic package.  

The presenters spoke about Guiding Eyes, about what happens there, about how this group that was graduating had been working with their new people for about three weeks. What an amazing pairing this is – seeing eye dog to blind person – personalities mesh, trust and love are built.

When the speaker thanked all of the devoted puppy trainers, explained the unselfishness of their actions – to raise a puppy, knowing it’s not their own for this very high purpose – a little sob actually escaped me. Megan’s initial words came back to me… “Yeah, it will be hard, but just think how awesome it would be if the dog does well and makes it through the program – it will go on to really help someone who needs it.”  I really saw that that day…

The trainers who had raised the puppies hadn’t seen the dogs at all during their last intensive (approximately) six months of training, but many were there to watch the dogs graduate. As the trainers went up to be acknowledged, as Megan and Joe might do someday for Clara, they couldn’t take their eyes off of the dogs they’d raised.  When the program ended, the trainers could go up and greet the new dog owners, say hello to the dogs they’d raised, and get a picture together. The dogs remembered the trainers, each so happy to reunite – like old pals after a long separation.  One woman that the kids know has already raised eight puppies for the Guiding Eyes program. She’s presently on her ninth.

Later, we took a tour of the facility. We met some older dogs, and some puppies too.  I was glad that Megan had thought to invite us – not only is it heartwarming to witness what happened that day, but it’s also good for Todd and me to better understand what she feels so passionately about.

                         Clara on a Rhode Island beach with Megan and her Uncle Tony

We hear a lot in this world about the negative – about robberies and muggings, about mall violence and worse. But I really wanted to share this story with all of you because there are sooo many good people out there in the world, just doing what they think they should, living their lives every single day for the betterment of others. These stories really need to be told, don’t you think?

Todd and I felt privileged to have attended the ceremony, and felt proud of the work that Megan and Joe have chosen to do.

Oh, and by the way, rumors are already circulating – something about another puppy joining their foster home in February…?  Only time will tell.  J

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, go to her website: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com

Thanksgiving, Part Two - But what did you Dooo...?

Thanksgiving, Part Two:

On Wednesday, Todd and I wanted to visit a winery, so Megan and Joe planned for us to visit two. One we’d been to before, and love. They pair their tastings with various cheeses and chocolates. It’s always fun to see how the flavors complement each other. The second winery was new to us, and had a fun little store attached. There’s nothing like wine-themed gifts for certain women on my Christmas list… ;)  For dinner the kids suggested the “Great American Pie Company.” If we went during the Early Bird Special (4-7 p.m.) we’d get our whole dinner (which Megan refers to as “comfort food” – chicken pot pie, shepherd’s pie, meatloaf, turkey, mac & cheese, etc.) plus a soft drink, plus a piece of pie/dessert for only $12.99. Sold! The food tasted great, and I’d agree with her – “comfort food” indeed.

Waking up on Thanksgiving morning with our daughter in the next room felt nice. It had been four years since we’d spent that holiday with her and Joe. A few weeks prior to us being there, she’d asked if we wanted to go to NYC to see the Macy’s parade. We attended and watched her march in it in 2004, and knew the 12-deep crowd sizes, etc. so we said we were okay watching it on television. She said that the dog would also like that decision. I was actually looking forward to a laid-back traditional day. When our two kids were younger, Todd always stopped at Cinnabon before Thanksgiving, and picked up cinnamon rolls to eat while we watched the parade. It was cute to see that they had arranged to make some cinnamon rolls for us, to carry on the tradition. We “Facetimed” with Tony (Lesleigh had to work), and wished him a Happy Thanksgiving. Megan carried her phone all around the house, showing him all of the pets (there are three) and told him what was new with each. Crazy town… J 

It was also nice to see Joe and Megan work together in the kitchen. Each had certain recipe suggestions. Unlike me, who has all of my recipes in old books and on tattered pieces of paper, they each have theirs on their phones. They conspired on the best way to baste the turkey, cover it with tinfoil, make side dishes, etc. Neither phone dropped into the gravy (that I know of…)

Megan and Joe moved to the east coast in 2010, less than two months after their wedding. It always meant a lot to me (as a mom) when their new friends/friends’ families invited the two to their own holiday celebrations. Even if 98% of the time you love your life and living arrangements, there’s something about “the holidays” that has the ability to make you feel lonely. So I was glad that they always were offered somewhere to go. Likewise, this year the kids invited a young family over for the day. They couldn’t get back home to Michigan, so they spent the day with us. It was funny to watch the Packers/Lions game, exchanging old memories of holiday games gone by. Of course the Packers didn’t do very well this year (sigh) … Oh well… The couple had a four-month old baby, and he was fun to oooh and aaah over for a while. Good company, good food, chilled wine – all in all a great day.

On Friday we took a little tour - saw where Megan works, and met a couple of her friends. We’d seen Joe’s workplace on a previous trip. The four of us went to see the Hunger Games movie and we all thought it was good – possibly better than the first. I read the whole series a while back, and it was good to have that memory, without it being fresh. That way I knew what was happening, but didn’t keep comparing the book and movie. If you’re interested, definitely go see it. Since it was Black Friday, we braved (dun dun duuuun) “the mall.” It was already 5:00 so we thought the crowds may be down a bit. There was a steady stream of cars/headlights and still seemed very busy, but we found some open parking by the Sears store. Todd loves Sears, so he didn’t mind strolling through. (You’ve heard of tip-toe thru the tulips? Well this was tip-toe thru the tools) (get it?)   ;)  The mall had just opened a Red Robin (Mmmmm) so the four of us each had a beer and a burger, and shared some good conversation.

One of our main reasons for going to the mall was to shop at the Hallmark store. Megan loves the “Willow” figurines, and as a Christmas gift, we wanted to add some pieces to her Nativity set.  No kidding – we were standing there looking at the Willow Nativity when all of a sudden a male store employee came up and said, “We have to close our store – there’s a fight in the food court.” Weird… So the four of us just sort of stood there as the two employees figured out what they should do. When we finally stepped into the mall, a woman walked by very fast, saying that there was a big fight in the food court and that someone had fired a gun. She was heading for the nearest exit – which wasn’t a real exit, but an emergency exit. Wow, was it strange for the four of us to follow her group down that long narrow hallway, looking for the door to the outside, not knowing exactly what had happened. When we got outside, there was a mass exodus occurring. Many stores and restaurants ushered their customers out. Since we’d parked on the opposite end of the mall, we passed by a lot of the chaos on the way to our car. As you can imagine, it felt eerie, we felt apprehensive and scared, and also very disappointed. Megan said it best, “What is this world coming to?”   

As Joe navigated our car from the mall’s mayhem, squad cars and ambulances squealed into the lot. Megan and Todd both tried to find information on their phones as to what had just happened. Later, as we watched the news from the safety of the kids’ living room, the reporters said that no gun had been used at the scene. Yes, there was a fight, and fifteen people had been involved, but no guns…  

What a strange night. I’ll never forget it.

Tune in soon for Part Three, Clara the Foster Dog. It’s an interesting story. 

God’s Blessings!

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, go to her website, www.katiekolbergmemmel.com  

Thanksgiving, Part One - Getting There is half the fun?

Before beginning this entry, I glanced back at my list of posts, and realized I haven’t blogged in over a month. What? That can’t be right! With all of the thoughts that fly through my head on a daily basis, how is it I haven’t written them down in 34 days??? But then again, it’s been a hectic time. Ye old blog counter does not lie, my friends. All we can do is move on from here, am I right? And so, that said, I am setting out to make up for lost time. By the time I’m done, you’ll all be sick to death of me and my bloggy blather. I promise… ;)

How’s everybody doing? Did you have Happy Thanksgivings? Are you enjoying your holiday preparations? Are you enjoying quiet nights in front of your fireplaces, sipping wine, gazing at twinkle lights? Or are you running around like headless barn fowl? Either way, (and it’s probably a bit of both) I wanted to share some of what Todd and I experienced over our own Thanksgiving weekend. This is considered Part One: 

A while back, Todd envisioned us driving to Connecticut to celebrate the holiday with Megan and Joe. He thought we could share the ride with Tony and Lesleigh, split up the driving, and have a nice weekend together – the six of us. But when it became revealed that the kids were moving to Nashville, Todd revised his travel ideas, fast forwarding to Plan B – Flight. After he made the plans I got so excited. We hadn’t seen Megan and Joe since April, when they came into town for a brief four-day weekend. Plus, flying would get us there in two shakes, leaving more time for our familial chitter chatter.

Todd booked us a flight that would leave Milwaukee on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., head through Detroit with only a one-hour delay as we changed planes, and arrive at LaGuardia at 11:30. Then we would catch a shuttle to a rental car and be on our way up to Connecticut. Yes, we’d arrive at Megan’s in the wee hours of the morning, BUT it would also leave four full days of time with the kids.

Plans progressed nicely until the weather started to change – and I’m not talking about the weather in Milwaukee. It all started to swirl down in Texas. Then it started to move its way east. Then it started to move its way north. Before we knew it, there were flight delays across half of the country – no lie. And of course you know that the weather reporters had a field day with this. Here it was, Monday of Thanksgiving week, people traveling via all modes of transportation, and the media had a weather situation to talk about. They showed piles of snow in some states, cars flipped into ditches, freezing rain in other areas, vehicles sliding sideways into other cars… (sigh) I must admit my blood pressure began to rise. I think the elements can be rather scary!

Look, I know I have no control over the weather, and I know that Todd and I were only two of the “millions” that would be affected by whatever was coming.  I found that I had to stop watching the news reports because they only served to rev up my mood into an extremely negative place. Because, you see, I hadn’t seen my daughter in seven months, so I really just wanted/needed to get there, and deal with ‘whatever’ another day (sort of a denial, fiddle-dee-dee thing). In my mind, this had to work out, you know?

Of course Todd, Mr. Practical, was wielding his “It is what it is” philosophy, and of course he was right. It simply came down to this… either we’d fly or we wouldn’t. The airlines and other powers-that-be would decide. So I did what I could – I prayed about the situation. I asked God for safe travel for everyone over the highly-traveled holiday weekend. I asked that somehow things fall into place so that Todd and I could still get to see Megan and Joe. I acknowledged that if we had to be delayed, that I’d try to find the good in it, and would rather be late than not arrive at all. Then, after praying, I went out on a limb and asked my Facebook friends to pray for safe travel for everyone too. More than 60 of you responded – talk about a prayer chain!

Up until 4 p.m., our flight was still on time, so we drove to the airport to see what our night might hold. As soon as we got there we saw that our Detroit connection had a 90-minute delay. Since we only had an hour lay-over, this could be a problem.

Crazy as this seems, J  I saw there was a direct flight, leaving Milwaukee at 6 and arriving at LaGuardia at 9:30. “Did you know there was a direct flight?” I asked Todd. 

“Hmmm, no, I didn’t see it when I booked the flights, or I’d have taken it,” he said.

“I know it’s a long shot, but let’s see if it’s full – maybe we could still get on,” I suggested.

Of course our gate was as far as it physically could be – seriously – it was the last gate at the Milwaukee airport. I set down my “stuff” and said to the woman at the desk, “Hey, I’m sure that your direct flight to LaGuardia is probably booked solid, but you wouldn’t happen to have two seats would you? We’re supposed to go through Detroit, and…”

She cut me off. “What’s your name?”  I told her and she said, “You’re already ON the direct flight. It leaves in 40 minutes. Be ready to board in 20.”

WHAT??? I couldn’t believe my ears. Delta (or something) must have seen the delay, recognized the problem, and thought ahead enough to ease traveler’s dilemmas. Long story short, Todd and I left Milwaukee on time, and got to our destination two hours earlier than originally planned. Though the NY airport was hectic, the temperatures were still in the 40’s, so the rain that fell was not of the freezing variety. We secured our rental car, Todd programmed the GPS (which is a whole ‘nother story – man those things are something else, aren’t they?) and headed north to New Milford, CT.

The kids waited up for us, and we were able to have a nice little reunion before heading to bed.

I wanted to publicly share this story because I know that many of you actually did pray for safe travel that weekend – and our’s was a story with a positive outcome. I truly believe that Todd and I were direct recipients of an answer.

I felt blessed...

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of "Five Fingers, Ten Toes - A Mother's Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference." For more information, go to her website at: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com