One of the amenities of staying at the Hotel Denzel, besides Denzel, is the big yard. That’s where I am typing now, seated in the shade by the fire pit. There’s also a hot tub, which I might just try out later. How that hot tub got to be at the Hotel Denzel is a story in it’s own right.

Back and forth to Spokane today, with a trip over to Idaho to eat lunch at the Pizza Hut (unfortunately the one and only Chinese buffet was closed) and then on to the powwow. From there, a trip to the Sports Authority to get those long Speedo swimming trunks and a snorkel. And then back to say goodbye.

What I really want to share is the text of a letter I got today.

From R to a loving foster mom. Hi Caroline this is R. I love you very much.Thank you for staying around all these years. I wish I would of done better with you. You are still my mom on the inside. I hope you forgive me for all the birthdays I missed of yours. I noticed this is my first time writing to you. Thank you for all youv done.

And inside the box was an interesting collection of things he had picked out to give me. From the important things like a fan he made himself from feathers, rawhide and beads to the things that remained a joke between us. For example, two bars of soap. The first time he lived with me, he would take a shower or a bath and never use soap. I had no idea that this was one of his ways of getting around the rules. After the pediatrician explained that the dark patches on his skin were embedded dirt and not the onset of juvenile diabetes, I figured out what was going on. So the next time we went to PCC, we ended up in the soap aisle and I said to him “Choose your flavor” and he picked some incredibly fragrant peppermint soap. And I said to him “Wow, I will always know when you have used soap in the shower” and that’s all I said. From that point on, the dirt patches disappeared and he went through soap on a regular basis. Similar thing with toothpaste and then he started getting cavities. So, I went with the same approach. In the box today was also a complete toothbrush travel kit.

We’re of equal height now. His shoe size is one bigger than mine. I noticed the teenage girls at the powwow checking him out. And yet he’s still that 8 year old that I ran into so many years ago. We also talked about my mom a lot.

It was a heavy day. Emotionally. And it was 101 degrees over on the dry side of the state.

Yesterday, I dropped in at Dog City to scare the bejeezus out of Jan 🙂 They are doing really well and I am so excited for them. They put so much of themselves into it. I always get such a thrill when I see people going out into their own ventures, whatever they might look like. But even more than that, there is no one that hugs like Jan.

Tomorrow starts the next week of training. I suppose I had better check where I need to be.