Talking about it with my therapist a few months ago, I looked up here address and phone number, and found that not only was she still alive, she was still living in Mercer! We started writing letters, and since I was in Mercer, I just had to call her see if I could come visit again.
It was great to see her! She's still as wonderful and loving as always, and I'm so sorry I let myself get scolded into not visiting her, because I really needed someone so loving in my life.
She has a beautiful home, with lots of bird artwork, and she has a tattoo of a black bird on her arm, which I vaguely remember from when I was a kid.
It was so, so nice to see her again. I'm sad I missed out on 20 years of friendship with her, but I'm glad that we got in touch again, better now than never.
Walked around outside and took pictures of the house and then walked down to great-grandma's house and took pictures there. The house has been abandoned for more than 20 years, and at this point, the floor has fallen in, and part of the roof has fallen in as well. My friend Shelly and I went in it back in the mid-90's when I was home from college once, but that was probably the last time it was even half-way safe to walk around inside it. The pictures I took are pretty cool and a bit spooky, but I'm glad to have taken them, because who knows when I'll be back again, or if the houses will be torn down by then.
Drove back to Madison with Holly, and talked about how to get Mama out of the wrecked trailer and into something habitable. Ate way too much random food on the way back (smoked turkey legs?!?, ranch flavored cheese curds?!?)
