Oh, the people we've meet along our way!

We met this young man one morning after staying the night in the lovely village of Melrose in an area called "The Borders" just south of Scotland, in England.  He was on his way to perform and consented to a quick picture.  The town was celebrating a historic anniversary with live music, dancing, a parade, the crowning of a princess, etc.  Melrose is one of the many villages we'd love to return to before leaving England.

We've enjoyed getting to know a wonderful couple from our ward, Mavis and Clifford Dawson.  They have lively tales to share about their younger years, fighting in WWII, working at one of the many cotton mills and life in a small community.  Their accents alone keep us enthralled!  On this Sunday we met some visitors at Church and invited them to join us for dinner.  It turns out we sort of "knew" Ann and Dixie Leavitt from an association with my former English roommate from BYU, Liz Bulmer.  The Leavitts were serving as the Mission President and Wife in the Leeds, England mission not long after Liz joined the Church.  They became close friends and later when Liz came to America for a roommate reunion Walt and I with Liz stayed in the Leavitts home in Cedar City, Utah.  The extra individual sitting on the left near Ann is Peter Fagg,  Peter has recently been asked to be the Church Historian for England.  He is a brilliant young man who along with his family own a couple of bookstores that specialize in Church materials.  He also sponsors tours of England, often with emphasis on Church history.

After attending a "New Mission Presidents" seminar in Frankfurt, Germany, Walt and I were able to travel about 45 minutes by car to reunite with Gerda Alles.  Gerda lived with my family in LaCanada, California for 9 months when I was a child.  She was a great help to my Mom.  I adored Gerda and was so grateful she was able to stay with us.   What a treat to have a reunion after 50+ years! Here she is in the back garden with her husband and 1 daughter.  Her sons were out of the country otherwise we would have met them.  We enjoyed a good visit and one of her homemade kuchens and tea.