September 21 with Emma

Sunday:  It was maybe a few weeks ago that Emma and I exchanged a few text messages and I discovered that she had time and a desire to take a walk with me on any weekend we were both "free" to do that. So we arranged that this Sunday was a good time for both of us and I agreed to meet at her place and decide where we would walk. However, rain interfered with our hopes for a walk--it had rained very hard over night and into the morning hours--which kind of led us to think (as the weather also predicted) that it was going to rain most of the day. But in reality, the rain had stopped until later in the evening. We probably COULD have taken a walk, but neither of us were completely psyched up to do it. We had discussed all of this at Chris's game yesterday and agreed that we could play a few games at her house if we decided against walking.

SO ... I brought a few games with me that are fun to play. A few years ago when my brother was in town and Emma was living here with me, we played a couple of rounds of Pachesi. Since Emma is quite competitive (so is my brother), it was very fun to play the game. I brought it over and just Emma and I played a VERY close game. Emma won basically by the roll of a dice. We also played a game of "stones" that I brought with me.

However, before we played any games, we talked for awhile and just hung out. Kota introduced me to LUNA, his pet tarantula. Now before you say NO WAY, let me just say that I did INDEED meet a pet tarantula and even got completely next to the cage/aquarium where it lives. It's actually quite a beautiful creature--very detailed and hairy--so much detail on its legs and body. I so regret not snapping a picture of her/him! I'll have to do it next time. I love to look at and think about the Lord designing all of the colors and shapes and textures of life, don't you? How completely awesome He is!

Emma showed me the "year books" of photographs she creates every year--I think she has done this since 2020. It was fun to look through these beautiful books with her. What a wonderful way to remember the events of every year and the people who shared life with her.

I snapped just one picture of Emma this afternoon. See Belle-Belle in the background? She is 15 years old! Very unusual for a cat to live this long and still be as healthy as she is--even though she does have arthritis and a kidney problem--she is still of a good weight, and look at her beautiful fur too!

Emma also taught me to play a new game! I love to learn a new game. This one is called "Skip-Bo". It reminds me very much of an old game my mom used to play with us called "Flinch." It's one of those games that is easy to play and still carry on a conversation at the same time. I loved being able to catch up with Emma for a few hours and listen to what she is thinking about and learning in her life. I love her so much and miss being with her. 

We talked about doing this again soon, so I am really glad about it. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of Emma.