With Minnesota coming into sight by my target date of Friday 19th, the heat was on, literally and figuratively, to keep pushing. A weather system rolled through southern Illinois taking out trees and power lines. I thankfully slept through the whole thing as I had a long ride to reach Iowa in another brutal day of heat. The mission has been to gather with family this coming weekend. Due to the pandemic, we never did a Minnesota memorial for my mother, who passed away in Feb 2020. I arranged for her remaining ashes to be in interned next to her parents at the Cambridge Lutheran Church cemetery. [Side note: remember “Cambridge”]. Prior to leaving, I shipped a duffel bag of supplies to my cousin’s house including postcards written from my grandfather Elmer to my grandmother Florence during World War I. They were courting in Cambridge when he left and married upon his return. So these were invaluable, 100 year+ family treasures I planned to share with family. Turns out the UPS delivery had been lost in Minnesota and for the last week they had been in search. Here is the punch line…while taking a water break in CAMBRIDGE, Illinois (pictured), I received a call from a CVS store outside St. Paul that a UPS driver had dumped the bag at their store. Bag found and crisis averted! Loved the coincidence and completely relieved. My mom is rolling her eyes wondering why I didn’t have Margot just bring the postcards to Minnesota this weekend. Moms are usually right.
