Philly whirlwind tour...

On this past Saturday, my beloved Banana's Grandmother "Nana" passed away at the age of 92. She had broken her hip about a month ago. Thankfully she passed peacefully, and didn't have to do so all alone, as Banana's mother was there with her the last few days she spent on this spinning ball of clay. Nana has an incredible legacy of her Christian faith, and while I did not get the chance to meet her in person, I look forward to see her dancing the streets of gold in heaven. Nana has children and grandchildren who have served/are serving as missionaries. One is on a medical missions ship near Madagascar, another pair work to build up local churches in a tentmaker ministry, and others, like my Banana, exhibit great faith that finds it's roots in her example. So while she passed and there is a temporal loss, it was as much or more a celebration of her moving to heaven, to be with her Lord and Savior. The memorial service was beautiful, and many great stories were shared.

We flew out at 6:00AM Tuesday morning. This meant I was up at 3:30AM, and for those who don't know, that's just shortly after my normal bed time. So I got about an hour of sleep, drove to Banana's home, and then with her father we made our way to the airport. The flight was uneventful, and it was nice because there were only 10 people on the whole plane, so we could sit where we want and relax/spread out.

When we got to Philadelphia, we checked out our rental car, and headed to downtown Philly. Both of Banana's parents grew up in the Philly area, so he gave us the quick tour. We went through downtown, and saw city hall, the Liberty Bell, and many other things that escape my mind.

We stopped and got a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich, which was quite yummy. I was told later though that Pat's and Geno's are the standard by which all others are measured (ours were not from either place).

I got to meet many of Banana's relatives, from both sides of her family. All in all it was a great trip, even though the cause for the trip was not one that we would have wished for.