So sorry! It’s been a while since my last Movable Assets post. As you know if you’ve read the last two, most of our attention these days is focused on David’s battle with pancreatic cancer. For the time being, though, I’m VERY happy to report he’s doing remarkably well. Regular updates are on CaringBridge.org.

The number and frequency of house guests has diminished considerably as David has improved, but we did host our girls and granddaughters at Christmas . . .

. . . but since David ended up in the hospital on December 26th and for the three days following, the above photos are about all I have to show for the Christmas visits. Fortunately, David bounced back quickly from that bug.

In early January, he was doing well and we were interviewed for a video to be shown at our church, and to have as a keepsake for our family.  What a gift that will be and already is. Here’s a link that should allow you to see it, if you’re interested:  http://counciltreecovenant.com/resources/sermons/david-bridge-testimony/

February was challenging, with David . . . er . . . enjoying a week-long hospital stay, but his chemo has since been adjusted and he is doing very well now.

Which brings us to this past weekend’s return guests: David’s brother Doug, of course, and David’s mom, Helen. They had flown in from opposite coasts, so we decided sitting around in the living room was not quite entertaining enough. David is doing so well these days, we were able to drive down to the airport to pick them up and head into downtown Denver for lunch at the Ship Tavern in The Brown Palace.

Then Saturday, we drove down to Longmont to the Cheese Importers where we had lunch in the bistro, perused the stacks, shelves, piles, heaps, mounds of goods for sale (most of it about or from France, which I love!) and finished with a quick trip through the chilly cheese room, where we stocked up on not just cheese, but also my favorite butter with sea salt crystals. Yum. You can see the butter choices on the right in the photo below.

Saturday evening, we decided to revisit the venue for Doug and Kristl’s rehearsal dinner and treat Helen to a bit of excellent jazz, one of her favorite things. Unbeknownst to us, we were about to be treated to a special Fort Collins appearance by Linda Briceño, renowned Venezuelan trumpeter and vocalist, playing along with Myles Sloniker on bass and his dad Mark Sloniker on piano. We knew we would enjoy hearing Mark and whatever group he had for the evening, but the three of them together were an amazing, rare treat. Boatloads of talent in that trio! Loved it!

Helen and Doug have both gone home, but Doug says he’ll be back again before too long. He’s a VERY easy house guest–when he’s not setting our toaster oven on fire–so always welcome. We supervise his cooking now!

In other news of returns, Chelsea will be soon be back again, this time for the foreseeable future, maybe for good!

She’s moving back to Colorado and hopes to be here by Easter. David’s cancer was the impetus for reevaluating how far away she wanted to live, and the answer was NOT that far. Bonus: Brian also lives here in Colorado. She’ll fly to DC a few times a year for work, and we enjoyed our visits there so much, we may even join her sometime, but mostly we are very much looking forward to having her closer. Brian’s pretty happy about it, too!

And yet more news of returns: We will be returning to our beloved La Rochelle (France) at the end of April and have the blessing of David’s doctor to stay for the entire month of May (stellar timing–Chelsea can house-sit). I promise more regular Movable Assets posts while we’re there!

Love makes you see a place differently, just as you hold differently an object that belongs to someone you love. If you know one landscape well, you will look at all other landscapes differently. And if you learn to love one place, sometimes you can also learn to love another. ∼Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces (Love that book!)

There is certainly a LOT of love going on here. Beloved family and friends visiting from far and near, emailing, sending cards, commenting on my posts here and on Caring Bridge, praying and thinking of us so faithfully. And now we have a chance to go back again to see our very dear friends in La Rochelle. I’m hoping to astound them and my tutor/friend Natacha with my improved French. On verra! (We’ll see!)

Wishing you excellent times with people you love in places that resonate deep in your soul!