Seven Islands State Birding Park & My Aunt Sue

Prior to my Uncle Jeff passing away suddenly, my Aunt Sue already had a plane ticket to visit her BFF Cindy who lives a little over an hour from me. She and Cindy have been friends since childhood and have stood by each other through a lot including Cindy losing her cabin in the fires that swept through our area last year. 

Despite Jeff's passing and the loss of her daughter-in-law the next day (more than any human should ever have to bear), Aunt Sue decided to take the flight and zip over to Tennessee. 

We decided to catch up with each other by meeting "about halfway" at Seven Islands State Birding Park. It was a beautiful spring day with temperatures pushing into the mid 70's. Abigail actually, without us even realizing it, got a pretty good doozy of a sunburn. 

I took three of my kiddos with. (Isaac stayed home and my amazing Aunt Jan took him to his guitar lesson for me in Johnson City. John's parents usually help with this activity, but they are out of town visiting 2 of their 6 children for a month.)

Sidge and Abigail did a two-hour-or-so hike around while I sat and talked with Aunt Sue and her friend Cindy and little Hannah. Here were the pictures that Sidge and Abigail took:

Here are some pictures of our group:

Despite the fact that my Aunt Sue has always lived in Illinois, and I have only lived there for one of my 45 years, I have always felt very close to her. I think a big reason is that there aren't many girls in the Huisman family. If you think of it, will you pray for my Aunt Sue and her family: Jeremey (married to Jackie with two children), Ryan (married to Briana with their son Caleb), and especially Eric. Eric is her middle son and is now raising his sons as a single parent after his wife Becky, tragically, collapsed the day after Uncle Jeff died. It was discovered she had an incredibly enlarged heart (most likely a complication of an undiagnosed medical condition.) 

I look forward to getting to see my Aunt Sue for years to come when she visits Tennessee (and maybe when I make return trips to Illinois.

[A quick side note for anyone who has been following our recent life: my only remaining grandparent, my mother's mom, was moved to a nursing home during all of the drama of what was happening with the Huisman family. She is actually, surprisingly, flourishing in this new space with people around her. We are so happy. She had been in a place that none of us wanted her in, but we had all been sort of "trapped" in her living there. God ordained SO many steps and so many pieces so wonderfully, including my JB having a very thorough understanding of how to properly get my Grandmother moved, so that she can be in a wonderful place during the last, probably year, of her life. I am even hopeful that I might be able to see her one more time.]