Our “When Swing Was King” road trip had a swell start –
really swell. The blessings began with a
very pleasant drive to Texas, the highlights of which were a brief visit with my
sister Sherry in Wichita; a night’s stay in Lawton, Oklahoma; listening to an audio tape of “Cheaper By the Dozen;” and the decision to take a
lonely but very scenic route on down through Texas to San Antonio. Here we have been delightfully hosted all week by our dear friends, Bryan and Janet Lilius at their home
in the Hollywood Park district.
We arrived a little after four on Saturday and started right in catching up.
The
following morning (Easter) we enjoyed a very moving worship service at the nearby
Southern Baptist church that Bryan and Janet attend. There was good preaching, very friendly
people, and terrific music: hymns, choir, and a small orchestra with plenty of horns
– a perfectly regal sound for Resurrection Day! Preceding that service I was honored to present a talk entitled “The Resurrection: What’s It Got to Do with
Me?” to one of the adult Sunday school classes.
After
church Claire and I were further honored to be invited to an Easter celebration/birthday
party/family dinner with the family of Katie and Polo Sotelo at their home in
north San Antonio. Polo’s mother and
brother from Mexico were on hand as were the 8 Sotelo kids, ranging from 3 to 23. We had a wonderful afternoon and it was so
great to see how the Lord has worked in Katie’s life since the days we knew her
as a young girl. Lord, please continue
to pour out Your blessings on these dear ones.
We
returned home in time for me to get one of my 7-mile walks in around Hollywood
Park, Claire joining me for part of the trek.
The evening was rounded out with good conversation before heading to
bed.
Monday
morning was spent with breakfast, some grocery shopping, and a brief visit to
the first of the senior facilities where we were to present a “When Swing Was
King” show the following day. We then took off to see San
Antonio’s biggest attractions – the Alamo and the famed River Walk. We enjoyed both very much and we used the
well-developed and pretty surroundings to get in our walking for the day. Believe me, the scenery was certainly superior
to the parking lot course I use at home!
Plus, it was sunny and wonderfully warm. We came home for a barbecued steak dinner
and a William Powell/Myrna Loy movie before calling it a day.
Tuesday
began with breakfast and more catching-up conversation with Bryan and Janet at
their home. Bryan then took me to lunch with several of his church friends and
we had a nice time of conversation about the church, our ministry, and what was
happening in the guys’ lives. After that, we had the first of our 5 “When Swing
Was King” presentations scheduled for San Antonio.
Unfortunately, the
activities director we had met the day before didn’t even show up until the program was
almost over and there was no staff member to oversee the residents, something we always require at home when our audience members require nursing care. Also, there hadn’t been any promotion of the event that we could
tell. However, just the fact that strangers were on the scene created interest and,
because we were quick in setting up, Bryan, Claire and I had time to move several residents into
the hall who otherwise had nothing to do but sit around. By the time we were ready to start, our audience had grown to 20-25 and we
had a splendid time. It was, in fact, the
typical “When Swing Was King” response: tapping feet, voices singing along,
great stories of memories rekindled, plenty of warm thanks, and invitations for
us to come back soon.
That evening I
got in another 7-mile walk before we all went to dinner. At the restaurant Janet
spied a couple of ladies from the neighborhood that she invited to the Thursday
afternoon home show of “When Swing Was King” and they eagerly accepted. Cool.
On Wednesday
we had a morning “When Swing Was King” show at another senior care facility and
it went extremely well. Great setup, friendly and helpful staff members, and 22 people who were more than ready for a sentimental journey back to the big band
era. We had some particularly memorable
conversations with residents afterward. For instance, I asked Vern about the
Bible he was carrying and that led to a discussion about the enduring joy of
knowing you are born again. Claire and Bryan
spoke with Alise, a Parisian who had married an American G.I. during World War
II. Her husband had passed away just two months ago and she was struggling with not
only that loss but some other issues. She confessed she hardly ever smiles
anymore. However, she enjoyed the music and the pictures a lot and, after
telling me the story of falling in love with her husband at a dance, her broad
and bright smile was on full display. I told Alise how beautiful she looked
when she smiled and how much I appreciated it. And, while one of the aides
stood alongside, I told her how much pleasure her caregivers would receive if she smiled
more. And as the aide agreed and gave her a little hug, Alise, smiling as much
as before, promised she would. Thank you, Lord.
On Wednesday
afternoon Bryan and Janet’s youngest daughter Katie came by with four of her
daughters to visit. We had planned to go to the River Walk again but it was
raining. So we ended up doing something even better – Claire enlisted the girls’
help to make chocolate chip cookies (Claire’s traditional recipe…very non-Paleo)
and almond flour chocolate brownies. Amid the bustle, there was plenty of conversation
and laughter, stories featuring Katie when she was a girl, eating the cookie dough, and Janet sewing a cape for Ellie’s super-powered sheep, (Don't ask.) It was a fun afternoon
with Claire and Janet doing a great job overseeing the activity.
That evening was a quiet
one. Bryan and Janet went to a church dinner and Bible study. Claire and I did
some grocery shopping, fixed dinner, did some reading, and turned in early.
I
decided to take my walk early on Thursday (6:30) and so was done, showered, and
ready for breakfast by 9. That was good because we needed to take off for our
next “When Swing Was King” at 10. We had extra help getting the residents in
and we eventually had a large gathering. The show was well received even though
we had a technical glitch about 2/3 of the way through. But we managed to get
through it okay and the show ended strong. After the show, we were pressed for time as the staff members needed to set up for lunch. Still, we were able to get in some good conversations
with a couple of brothers from Israel, a former pastor who so appreciated the
program, and a dear lady from the Lilius’ church who is 106.
The
next item on the agenda (still on Thursday) was an in-home “When Swing Was King” presentation because
Janet’s current health condition had prevented her from attending the
others. So she invited 9 special
friends to her home and prepared a wide array of delicious treats for them to
enjoy during the show. Two neighbors had to cancel at the last moment but all the rest came with great interest in the outreach. With this group we were also able to talk about the
origins of the ministry, its philosophy, stories from the past few years, and
so on. It was a terrific afternoon but the pace of the day must have tired us
all out because right after dinner (at a local burger place named Chester’s) we
headed for bed.
We were
scheduled to join Katie and her daughters for a return downtown on Friday
morning to ride one of the tourist boats that work the San Antonio River. But
the weather forecast included more of the rain and high winds that the area had
experienced the previous night. I had managed to get my walk in before
breakfast (Claire joining me for a couple of miles) but the sky still looked a
bit iffy. But we decided to try it and we were really glad we did. The girl
running our boat was very informative and personable; the River Walk was lovely; and spending time with Katie’s family was a lot of fun. However, there
was still a bit of rain and the winds were quite strong, strong enough to bring
a fairly large tree limb crashing into the river right in front of our boat. By
the time we finished and tied up to the side, the powers that be decided it was
too dangerous and shut the boats down until the winds died down. We bought some
postcards and then left to meet Janet at Chik-fil-A for lunch.
Our
afternoon “When Swing Was King” was at a facility specializing in memory care.
There a few family and friends joined with about a dozen residents for our 5th and final program of the week. It went great. The activities director was the most involved we had met so
far and the responses from the residents were among the most moving. We were so
glad Bryan and Janet set this one up for us and it was a great way to close
out the San Antonio leg of this “When Swing Was King” road trip.
Tonight
we will have dinner, pack up for Oklahoma City, and spend some time praying together
with our dear friends before having to take our leave from them early tomorrow
morning.
