Quiet Moon on Chaotic Night

Looking at this picture it just looks like such a quiet night, one where you would just lay back and stare at the moon.

In actuality, it was pure chaos. But even in the chaos, there was something that represented a beautiful thing, a friendship.

I met my best friend many years ago in an online support group. We met through a networking site for people with Lyme disease. 

Now skip ahead several years, more then ten. We went from being online friends to hosting many Lyme awareness events together, to becoming super good friends. Each year I used to travel to my friend's house to visit, and lots of our other friends with Lyme would meet us too.

Over the years we got older and sicker and weren't able to participate in the activism anymore and friends fell off and went their own way, but we remained friends and stayed in touch, not just online but visiting each other each year as we are able.

About ten days ago I got a phone call, well I should say a "Facetime" call. It was Tracy and she was saying she just wanted to catch up. As we were talking I saw people walking by in the background. I said oh you got the grandkids? And then she said yes, come here and one sat on her lap. I thought my eyes were blurry because her granddaughter was looking an awfully lot like my granddaughter.

Well, there she was, downstairs with my kids and grandkids. She had surprised me with a visit! We spent ten days together, some sick, some pushing ourselves to get out into nature or do our walks, lots of time with kids and grandkids.

This was the day she was supposed to return home. I dropped her off for her flight at 5:00 pm and started heading home through the city of Madison, Wisconsin. I heard a text and pulled over to read it. Her plane was having "mechanical issues" and she might not be able to fly home. So I turned around and drove back to the airport and waited to hear further word. There while just waiting in the parking lot I got out of my car to stretch and noticed how pretty the moon and one of the planets next to it looked and snapped this picture.

After about three hours she told me to go ahead and go home. So I drove home. Once I got home I got more texts saying that they were loading on another plane. Then nothing, the plane just sat there. More technical issues. They had to get off the plane and wait more.

By now it was about 10:00 pm and we were both exhausted, me having been in the car for like six hours and her getting on and off planes, sitting, walking and standing,  and while dealing with being sick from Lyme disease and Myasthenia Gravis. 

But all we could do is wait. Then hope came yet again, the airport said they flew in a plane from Charlotte, NC and they boarded everyone again. Then again, waiting. Computers were shut down, no one was left in the airport and word came in they could not fly because the staff of the plane had "timed out". So off they went again. Only this time there was nowhere to go because the airport was closed, so they all stood in the jetway waiting to be able to leave. 

Finally at about 4:30 am my friend messaged me to just come get her. Some blessed souls drove her partway to my house and we met in the middle. We got home at about 6:00 am. 

So as I write this post, my friend is sleeping next to me. There is not another flight until Monday, so I guess we have two more days to spend together. And that my friends, is the story of this picture. 

~ Lisa

Other pictures from this night