COUSIN PATTY

The Lord kindly painted the hills of NW Arkansas this week for a visit from my Massachusetts cousin Patty.

Patty is my age and the oldest kiddo from my Daddy's favorite sister, Aunt Babe.  Patty had never been down South before, so Mike and I tried to spread the drawl and hospitality thickly.

EASY
My cousin is one of those rare birds who can be happy doing whatever.  Isn't that true contentment?  Being easy was a great quality for a house guest and I took a lesson.  "Patty, we can do this or that" we would say as our list of options framed scenarios.  She would say "Oh, THAT sounds like fun!"  But then she said the same thing about the next option and she meant it.  She has been a blessing and we've vacationed, too, as we rode alongside her.

LINEAGE
Do you see that tall, skinny, handsome man on the top right?  That's my Daddy, Jim Hodges (and my grandparents on the front right).  The groom at this wedding was Daddy's best buddy and they joined the Army together after Pearl Harbor.  Daddy introduced Charlie to his little sister Babe...and Babe and Charlie are Patty's parents.

Patty loves family and the Lord graciously plopped her down in a big one.  My Grandmother Hodges had eight kids and so did Aunt Babe.

When my cousin grew up she matched her love of children with a teaching career and served 36 years.  Nate was with us when we picked up Patty at the airport and they joined at the hip immediately.  Then when we took her to Little Rock, the little girls swarmed her.

FAMILIAL
Familial traits are endearing.  Patty and all my New England relatives call me "Sue".  No one else calls me that, so it's sweet to me.  We share the Hodges humor...on retail day we stood @a wire card rack at least 10 minutes laughing our heads off.  We're both a bit ADD and we're people people.  Growing up, my family didn't have money to make many trips East, but I can remember my cousins from a trip we made when I was twelve.  Then when Mike retired, we made a "leaf peeping" tour of New England and we stopped @Patty's.  She threw a family reunion at her house and tons of strangers who all seemed familiar showed up.

BUMPY
The small prop flight coming here from Hartford to Newark was choppy for Patty, but she had already experienced a bumpy ride.  Patty took good care of her husband who had esophageal cancer and died at home in June.  And she's coped with some illnesses of her own.  So when she stepped onto that flight with a history of AVERSION to flying, she was putting faith into action.  God met her there.  He put a character in the seat ahead of her for distraction...and when the stewardess' head hit the ceiling, Patty's thought was "if I live, God is with me and if I die, I'll see His face and Don's".  She felt peaceful.  I like a practical God who makes us able.

FIRSTS

Patty's new friends are fried okra and four-wheeler riding.  One day we drove her through a gated community called Pinnacle and she kept rubbernecking and repeating..."I had no IDEA there was this much wealth in Arkansas".  When we drove through the mountains and past pastures full of cows, she talked about how much open space there was in AR and how the color reminded her of New England.  That day we ended up at a restaurant called "Grandma's" on a mountain in Winslow and agreed that the rolls and chicken/dumplings and pies were blue ribbon.  She found the town squares in Fayetteville and Bentonville charming.  And when we took her to Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, she was blown away.  We told her Arkansas was a well-kept secret.

ADIEUX
We tracked Patty's flight home on a neat little site called www.flightaware.com and watched the plane's progress and knew when it touched down.  OK, Patty, we're making our list for next year.  Wanna do something really bizarre and sit on a deer stand?