The McGerfurs reunite...

Well, a lot of us McGerfurs got to see each other. Even though some of us aren't McGrails or Furlers any longer. We missed the ones that we didn't see and thought of you that weren't there.
The Furlers are my second home, and Sue and Al are my second parents (no hard feelings, mom and dad). Being around them makes me feel special, loved, and unique, and sometimes my daily life working and whatever does not make me feel.
So, anyway, we pulled in after midnight on Thursday, and Al was waiting up for us. We crashed in Em and Sarah's old rooms. Friday we got up and lounged on the beautiful deck while Al made plans for us to go to the shore. Sis Kate was gone for the day--helping as our friend Lisa Schubert's bridesmaid--so Sue, Al, Mom, and I packed up Finn and headed to the shore making a detour for Tai food. We lounged some more on the beautiful beach, talking and catching up. Dad met up with us, and we went out for the best stinking seafood I've had since I was at the Jersey Shore two years ago. Then, on the way back, at about ten o'clock, we stopped in at Sarah and Kyle's new house--not so new, they've been there for a year. Despite the quirks and the imperfections, this historical house provokes my imagination like being with Sarah does: the fire scars, the rickety stairs, the uneven floors in the basement, the flowing ivy in the yard.
So that was Friday.
On Saturday, we went into NYC to visit Laura and Corbett. Corbett has a new office on the side from his day job where he sees patients on the side. The office is small but very unique and classy--very Corbett. We walked across the street to try a Korean restaurant, and Al told me that if I got sick or didn't like it then the trip to Korea is off. I liked it. We walked around the Farmer's Market to find Finny a hat because it was sunny and warm but headed into the nearby kids' department store after we exhausted the options for the farmer's market. We headed back to see Laura and Corbett's apartment from there--they just moved a month ago. This is a fantastic place, so full of flavor and style. Laura has fish like the Furlers had in their house in Quuensbury, NY. The roof patio is a fantastic view of the city. Really cool. Then we headed back to Sparta for pizza and beer at Sue and Al's.
So that was Saturday.
Sunday, we got up to go to the Sparta Evangelical Church, and I must say, this church has changed so much from the days when it met in the ambulance building or the Helen Morgan School. The church is amazing--complete with coffee bar and pool tables in the youth room. Very appropriate that Pastor Doug was talking about I Corinthinians, the passage about how love does not boast. He ended the sermon telling about how the building is nothing to boast about: the people are the real body of Christ. Also very significant that these verses were the ones we used in Belize for the VBS.
Then we went to the wedding. Holy cow. I could write another page about this, but basically, the wedding was on Culver Lake in the chapel that opened onto this beautiful dock. The ceremony was so simple and amazing, yet we all could tell that every single detail was so carefully planned and tended.
Then the reception. It was like a castle on a hill in the Poconos. I ate the best fish--carmelized, I think--that is second only to the amazing softshell crab and Manhattan clam chowder we had at the shore. And the friends. I saw friends that are so precious to me. And I saw children of friends, too. Very weird.
And we headed back after the wedding, travelling most of the day today.
And I come back to the Furlers. Only with Sue and Al can I say, "So who's up for Korean?" and no one will laugh. They always have adventures and love for all of us McGrails that always seem to weather distance and time.