It’s been over one and a half years since I flew on a plane. I took my first flight to Kansas City, Missouri for Bowman and John’s 31st wedding anniversary and vow renewal. They are members of the Unity church, and in Lee Summit, there is a Unity Village, popular for weddings and retreats. But more importantly, it’s where the religion began. There’s much more to the history, but it’s not Unitarian Universalist; it is a Christian religion that believes god, or spirit, is in all of us.

We were lucky the weather was beautiful the whole weekend. We were also lucky that one of their sons, Patrick, made it. He drove from Virginia to Missouri and was in a car accident about an hour from the village. He was rear-ended on the highway while driving 70 mph. He somehow was not injured, but the car was totaled and is lucky to be alive.

On our first day, we walked a labyrinth, took a jolly wagon tour of the village, meandered through the plaza admiring the fountains, rose gardens, and moved from the hotel to an Airbnb house John and Bowman rented. Due to some people unable to attend, they invited us to stay there. It was a nice surprise and kind gesture that we quickly accepted. As Bowman’s maid of honor, I had some additional responsibilities, so it helped being close by. Other people in attendance were John’s cousins (Mary, Kay and Kay’s husband John) and Julian, their youngest son. Everyone was lovely, funny, and kind. We had many a meal together, laughed, sung, told stories, ate BBQ, and made new memories.

The renewal was an intimate gathering made special by the beautiful day, readings, the love in the room, music, the perfect design written by a close friend for their wedding in 1990. The ceremony was in the tower on the eighth floor at the very top with an open air room, blue skies, and big black birds circling the tower. This pair of soulmates made new commitments to each other that made most of us tear up. It was lovely and made me jealous. We gathered afterwards at the house for appetizers, dinner and laughs.

On Sunday, we helped John and Bowman pack the car (they were driving back to VA after spending the last two months in Seattle). Mom and I stayed another day to visit close states so we could check them off the list. In 6 hours we drove through 4 states: Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Mom had been to Branson Missouri before, but not the other states. The terrain in Kansas and Nebraska was very similar – thousands of acres of corn fields, over rolling hills. Missouri was the greenest state and we we’re only in Iowa for 10 min and not enough time to form an opinion. Kay recommended we stop in Weston, a cute town, 20 miles from the airport. We found a restaurant, the Tin Kitchen, and had an early dinner since we ate Chex mix for lunch.

It was a wonderful trip. And we’d definitely do it again.

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