We’ve had such fun with family and friends in Alexandria and Chapel Hill. How unusual and meaningful to just be with people with no time crunch or fear of infection (after vaccines, boosters, and regular testing)—we feel very lucky.

We had such a great time exploring DC and having yummy meals and conversations with Abby and Paul, who are so thrilled to be getting married (5.6.2023). Paul made a memorable focaccia (photo below) for us and their friends Charlene and Adam. We left Alexandria and headed to Pittsboro (outside of Chapel Hill) to stay with our good friends, Erika and Doug Guy via Nellysford, VA where Abby and Paul will get married. What a stunning part of the country, it felt like Vermont transported to Virginia.

Predictably and seemingly effortlessly, Erika created delicious dinners, (see below) and she and Doug and their dog Bodie were welcoming and warm. Close to Chapel Hill, we found a couple of hours to see my niece, Grace and her other side of the family aunt and uncle, Ashlyn and Keith and spent a wonderful afternoon with our friend and an amazing leader, Chris Bradford. Chris co-founded the African Leadership Academy, where he stays connected and involved but now is also the president of the Morehead-Cain Program at UNC. Four hours with Chris having lunch at the Carolina Coffee Shop and walking around the lovely campus felt like a gift.

This morning we packed up the truck and pulled into Kiawah Island after four hours, through the tunnel of ancient southern oaks draped with moss. We’ve biked and walked on the beach. This is home for three days.

Not only have we loved talking and laughing with people we love, we’ve listened to great podcasts, articles on Audm, good music, and we’re reading good books (Ben is immersed in The Lincoln Highway, a book I loved, too, and I’m in the middle of Four Thousand Weeks. I’m not typically a non-fiction person, but this is good).

One article has stayed with me. You know when something you feel finally gets named and there is clarity and healing in just the naming? That’s what I felt when listening to a New York Times article by Meg Bernhard about Pauline Boss’s work and understanding of ambiguous loss. Here’s a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/magazine/grieving-loss-closure.html

I highly recommend it.

And some photos.

Paul’s homemade focaccia:

Paul & Abby saying good bye to us in their sweatsedos:

Erika’s magic:

Grace & Ashlyn & Keith & me:

Chris & Ben & me at Chapel Hill

First hours at Kiawah, note the alligator 🙂

Stay safe. Miss you. Love you.