Beth, ThenDoesn’t it just gall you when the words you hated to hear from your mother turn out to be true? Although neither of us had serious problems with the other two sisters, to say that Beth and I did not get along well when we were growing up would be an understatement.
When we made it to the point that our arguments had us standing on Mama’s last nerve with the four feet we had between us, she responded with cruel and inhuman punishment. She made us sit on the floor in opposite corners of the room facing each other. [Doesn’t that grin on Beth’s face look like she’s gloating?] As a crowning insult, Mama would say, “One of these days you girls are going to wish you could see each other.”
Forced to look at Beth, I read her mind from across the room because I was thinking the same thing – “Not in this lifetime.”
To say that Mama was right was also an understatement. As adults, we’ve lived too far apart and seen each other too seldom. When either Joy or Sorrow knocks, I wish for Beth to help me answer the door.
This spring when we four McGee Girls had a rare gathering, Beth said her church choir was taking a cathedral tour of England. Her husband was not going, and she could take a companion. Would anybody like to go? I was the first to raise my hand.
I will be enjoying the cathedrals and time with Beth for the next ten days. I think she must also have “gotten over her mad” since she suggested that I come on the train a day ahead of time to avoid nerves over schedule delays and then added, “but you can come as early as you like.”
If you have taken notice of my blogging schedule, you will see this post is a day early. I’m leaving this morning on 
Beth, NowAmtrak to join Beth in Birmingham. I’ll be taking a break from blogging until my return. Advice when I began this blogging journey said to be consistent. Two months short of blogging for two years, I’ve blogged twice a week on Mondays and Fridays, usually early in the morning. Consistency has been my middle name. I’ve pictured an audience of friends out there as I wrote and feel connected even though, for the most part, I don’t know who is reading. I’m hoping at least a few of you will miss it. I know I will. But like MacArthur, I shall return – maybe with some new material. Look for my blog again early in August.