Don't Cry For Me...Kristiana

Well here I am on the first night of this road trip and Mark and I needed to pull in for the night. We've been having a good time talking for the thirteen hours we've been on the road. Mark, like me, is a storyteller. In case you haven't read my latest entry...I am going to a Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona with the missions pastor from our church. I do not (and this is kinda important to me that you understand) go on random road trips with guys named Mark. It's already bad enough that the borrowed van for the trip has a "DANCEMAKERS" license plate frame. Two guys in a mini van just doesn't say the same thing as two guys on Harleys. Nough said.

So after thirteen hours and checking into a hotel that wasn't completely booked, there were some, we went down to eat at a diner. As we sat there talking about trips we've taken, I told him a story about a trip Sylvia had taken. I figured this might be a good story for the blog. So here goes.

When Kristiana was just over a year old Sylvia's mom said that she would like to take Sylvia and Kristiana to Germany to meet the family. After weighing the pros and cons we went ahead and accepted the offer. I decided to load up on college credits and become "Mr. College" while they are away. I would move closer to graduation and it would keep my mind off missing them...I was half right.

In preparing for the trip Sylvia took a picture of me and put it into a very distinctive frame. It was gold colored with a heart outline around the picture. Nothing special but memorable. Sylvia planned on calling from time to time , having me talk to Kristiana, and showing her the picture of me while I talked to her. Good plan right? It worked just as we planned. Sylvia was gone for a few weeks, Kristiana charmed all of the German and Austrian relatives, and I had several one sided conversations with the newest love of my life. No problem...but Sylvia made me promise to never let her do that again.

Skip ahead about ten years (if this was a movie this would be where the calendar pages would flip, world event clips would play, and a musical montage showing progressively older pictures would flash across the screen) and we were clearing out a cabinet long forgotten. I saw the heart frame and pulled it out to show Sylvia.
"You remember this Hon?"
"Oh yes. Do you?" (She likes to check if I'm paying attention )
"Hey Kristiana come here!"
..."what do you need?"
"Do You remember this?" And I showed her the picture in the frame. She didn't answer, she didn't have time. She started bawling! Uncontrollable sobs. I asked her why she was crying and she said, "I don't know! I don't like that picture!"

Because of that I choose carefully when to be away from the family. This trip to check out the mission made the cut.