Catching up.

Last week whilst walking I hadn't any access to the internet so some catching up to do. Talking about catching up I thought when I walked through Yetholme, soaked to the skin at the end of day 2, that I had a great chance to catch up with old friends over a cup of tea. I saw the name "Pinfarthings" on a fine looking house in the middle of the village. A light came on in the dim attic of my brain! "That must be where Bob and Ruth live," I said to myself. When we both lived in North Wales Bob Harrison told me that he would call his house "Pinfarthings" when he found the home to bring up his family. It stirred in my memory that at some point they had moved to Yetholme. "Pinfarthings" is a little village in Gloucestershire where Bob had spent some happy times. So here was a bit of rural Gloucestershire on the Scottish borders. I was so confident that I was already saying, "Put the kettle on" when the door opened. Instead of the grizzled whimsicality of Bob's features I was greeted by the rounder face of a complete stranger. A friendly stranger who invited me in for a cuppa.

I discovered that I was 17 years too late! The new occupant knew of Bob's work as an Evangelist, his association with the village mission and his work among young people in Yetholme. So he had left something worthwhile behind. It would have been cool if he and Ruth had still been there. But I don't think they moved just to avoid me! It brought home to me that we are all on our journey through life and sometimes our paths cross. Sometimes not. We carry the connections. I'm glad of those connections that have enriched my life and brought joy to the journey.