Rayond Houston Visits SRQG
Rhonda Denny files this report from the latest SRQG program and workshop. Thanks Rhonda!
Linda T. picked me up at 12:30 for our journey to San Francisco airport to fetch Raymond Houston. I suppose I should have told her earlier that I had post-traumatic stress disorder and that I may well be the worst backseat driver ever. I said prayers, took an anti-anxiety med and hoped that Linda would still call me friend after our field trip.
I had made oatmeal cookies in the morning especially for the ride back to Santa Rosa. These uber-fantastic stick-to-your-ribs oatmeal cookies were sure to leave an extremely favorable impression of the SRQG, starting with his tummy.
We arrived with a few minutes to spare so we circled the terminal on a recon mission looking for American Airlines and the cell phone wait lot. Once situated, we were to wait for his call. It seemed like a good plan…except he had Linda’s home phone number. Suspecting this may be the case when no phone call came, we waited until about ten minutes after his flight was to have arrived and set out to circle the terminal.
We saw an appropriate looking man sitting on a bench outside the correct airline. I rolled my window down and hollered, “Raymond! Raymond Houston!”
The gentleman looked up and shook his head no! Wow! I thought for sure that was Raymond. Linda said, “I‘m not altogether sure it wasn’t him”.
Once again we went around the terminal. I asked, “How many times do we go around before I get to write that we got dizzy?” Three is the answer. The phone rang. It was Steve, Linda’s husband, calling to let us know we had just driven past Raymond and he was waiting for us.
As we closed in, it appeared to be the same man who had just said he wasn’t the Raymond for whom we were looking. He said later he doesn’t know why he shook his head ‘no’ when he heard his name being called at the airport where he was expecting strangers to pick him up…
The good news is we got him – and he was ready for cookies. The trip home was as lovely as the trip to SF. Linda T. is a sweetheart (and a good driver). Raymond is dear and it was good to spend time with him before the program and workshop.
I fell in love with his ‘Running Man’ quilt and his ‘Line On Design’ system. I copied the ‘Running Man’ in the workshop as a mini. I call it ‘Running Wo-man’. It moves me. I am glad I had this time with Linda and Raymond and the class. We began the day by introducing ourselves, including our middle names. There are some beautiful names and stories to go with these lovely people. If you want to know them please attend a class. We had a wonderful six hours, plus lunch. I hope Raymond thinks of us fondly every time he enjoys an oatmeal cookie….