Jim & Lori Visit

Jim and Lori were such good sports when I forced them to choose a dwarf and imitate it for my pictures, but in the end, it added to our laughter as we wound our way through the gnome garden of Salzburg. It was only the next day that we found out we had actually stumbled upon a historic piece of history and that the search is still on for the missing gnomes out of an original set of 28. Not only that, but “the Professor” gnome had been featured in the Sound of Music. We giggled at our own ignorance and sang along with Julie Andrews as we traversed the hills on our way into the Lake District, thrilled to be back in “my” country.

As long-time supporters - more than that: as a second family - they have been invested in my work at BFA and beyond for over a decade. In the support-raising days, they let me live with them for the mere cost of mowing the lawn in the summer. I relish the memories of dinner conversations and book recommendations. Likely I owe more of my knowledge and opinions to them than I know, so it was a real pleasure to get to show them around Austria for 12 days over Spring Break, starting with Salzburg.

The dreary weather on the trip to Vienna felt fitting as we visited the country’s most renowned concentration camp, Mauthausen. The air was heavy in the car as we drove away, my country failing to shine quite as brightly as the previous day. I’d been particularly moved in the area with all the national monuments, most notably the Tree of Life, donated by Israel. When Jim had asked me to read it aloud, I struggled to keep a steady voice, yet we were able to debrief in the car, and I was grateful for their presence to once again discuss, reflect, and even pray.

Vienna saw us bouncing between gleeful joy and thought-provoking discussions as we bounced from museum to palace to concert to the Schnitzelwirt and back to another museum. The days were packed and the hours in the car a bit long at times, but it was such a treat to get to show them the best and worst of the country that has my heart. The highlight was celebrating Easter in Kärnten: the reminder that even the worst that history has to offer, the death of the perfect Son of God, can culminate in the beauty of a resurrected life and the saving of souls. To join with believers and worship God in German was a balm to my heart, and I think meant a lot to Jim and Lori, too.