10 Years

It was a big day at Grace. The ten year anniversary. It was hard to believe that it had already been so long. Nine years at Kirk. Then ten at Grace. And still somehow it seemed as if they had been longer at Kirk than at Grace.
And there was Dr. Trade-Winds himself to deliver the sermon. It was as though he hadn’t changed a day.

In the afternoon, while Puck napped, Carrie and Collette took the girls to World Market to pick up Jelly Bellys and ginger beer (which wasn’t really beer at all) for the Doctor Who party. And the girls came away with a bar of chipotle chocolate, three Japanese ramune sodas, and a boxed mix of chocolate lava cake.

That evening, as the rain began to fall, Dr. Trade-Winds again spoke to the congregation, this time using a white board and markers. And there were songs, followed by a rather large Thanksgiving dinner which was shared with Ben-Hur; (Dad had already returned to Iowa, bringing Cherry back on the way, and Carrie had split early for a concert with Lucia.) It was the usual sort of comedy routine.
“I love you guys!” Ben-Hur said finally, laughing over something ridiculous or other that had just happened.
And Dr. Trade-Winds had come over to say hello to their table earlier before the service. It was like the old days again for just a few moments.