Meet Me in Montana

We had snow for Thanksgiving. It doesn’t matter how early or late the first snowfall is, we’re never ready. I was tromping around in the cold putting extension cords together to heat the trough in the horse corral. Then I noticed the outdoor furniture hadn’t been covered.

We’ve entered another sister retreat in the books. Donna came all the way from Maryland. Then we loaded up in Kit’s rig, and the five of us drove to Montana to see our sister Janene. We stayed in a swanky house overlooking the Bitterroot Valley. Apparently some cast members from "Yellowstone" were supposed to be staying there, but canceled because of the actor’s strike. Oh darn! We enjoyed the wood stove and the big kitchen and a bed for each of us.

The day we left was Friday, which is our local livestock auction’s weekly sale day. Donna and I had just enough time to meet Rich at the auction café for coffee. Donna caught up with an old classmate who works there, and we got to meet some of Rich’s friends that he hangs with every Friday. Then we went upstairs to watch the first cattle sell to the sing-song of the auctioneer. The scene goes way back to when we were kids and Dad would sell his weaned calves, a year’s work, on sale day and hope the buyers showed up to compete for the offering.

For our sister trip this year, Merle had the idea to prepare a “talk” of sorts to share with the other sisters on a topic we were particularly interested in. We learned about Sasquatch and spontaneous human combustion from her. Becky shared the Jimmy Carter story of eradicating guinea worm. Kit talked about the history of religion, and I talked about the monarch butterfly's life cycle. Donna’s presentation was the most fun. She's moon crazy so shared her moon app and other fun facts she's learned. Did you know we always see the same face of the moon as it rotates in sync with the Earth? Donna was standing at the front of the room with her notes in hand. We heckled her a bit, raising our hands and saying, “Mrs. McWilliams . . . Mrs. McWilliams! What about. . . ?”

Our brother Rich and his wife, Charlotte, drove up for a day too, which was a real treat. 

We’re getting some wear after living this long. We have disabilities of one kind or another, and you might think we’re not as sharp as we once were. But those issues fall away when we have such fun together. We laugh and reminisce and the conversation never dulls. The seven of us siblings are closer than we’ve been since we lived together in the same house. 

After a lifetime of hard work, raising kids and grandkids, navigating illness and disappointment, we don’t have terribly high expectations anymore. And what a gift that is. We just want time together, with these dear people that we know so well and who share our common history. It's uncommon and so very blessed.     

Me, Kit, Rich, Janene, Becky, Donna, Merle