A Blanket for Nan

In a few days we will fly to Bangkok where we'll board the Ocean Princess for a wonderful cruise throughout the Orient. The other DrC will be lecturing, and I'll be playing "go-fer" and social director. It's a fun job too.

As part of my job as social director, we are going to meet Nan in Narita, before we get on the ship. We have a three hour layover in Japan. IF everything works out according to plan, I will get to meet one of my former students and her family. This is a real treat and I'm so excited. So I'm hoping it will all work out.

Here's the plan. We will get off the plane in Japan, pick up our luggage, go through "customs" and when we exit, Nan and her family will be waiting for us. We'll hug and talk and have a grand time until we have to check in our luggage, get back into the security loop, and board our plane. We will probably see each other for an hour. We both know this is a crazy idea, but we are going to give it a try. I sure hope it works out.

Getting to this event started several years ago when Nan wrote to me, asking if she could take my online class the next semester. I said "yes" and filled her in on some of the details. She took the class, earned an A, and instead of saying "good-bye" we continued our friendship. We write to each other and send pictures back and forth. When this cruise became available I told her about us stopping at Narita and asking how far it was from there to her home. After a few frantic emails back and forth, we devised the crazy plan. Her family is even delaying a New Year's Celebration a day, so she can be at the airport.

As many of you know, I make blankets...so I made a blanket for Nan in honor of this event. It's my favorite teddy bear blanket, made from 4 different colors, one for each member of her family. The pink is for her, the white for her husband, the peach for her daughter and the yellow for her son. Isn't it exciting that we'll have a chance to meet? Now, let's hope and pray that it will actually work out.