Happy trails, Joe, & don't forget about us;
let us know how you're doing,
& post those adorable kid pictures right here on your "home forum"-
you & yours will always be Texans to us!

Adios Joe. I wish you the best in your new home. I have enjoyed your contributions to the Texas forum. It is refreshing and encouraging to see younger men like yourself taking to gardening with the enthusiasm you have shown. Maybe, come the next major Texas-wide drought, more of us will see you again over in the Xeriscaping forum.

Safe trip, and keep in touch. Xeriscaping is pretty much all I remember about Tucson, from going through there, so gardening will be a little more limited there, I suspect.

Have a safe trip and best wishes for your new home.
Be sure and let us know how you manage to grow your beloved cannas in the desert. We know you will find a way!

Hasta! Good news!!! Cannas look better in the desert. :) Write us once in a while! PJ

I remember a number of pretty flowers growing in Tuscon, Joe, and if anyone can do it, you can!! I also remember how pretty the mountains are. Best wishes for a happy life to you and your wonderful family ------

Good luck to you! I know you'll have fun creating a new desert oasis once you're settled in!

Take care! Maybe you'll get to see some different hummers out there (the birds - that is).
; - )
J.D.

Drive safe, Joe. Enjoy your new gardening experiences in Arizona, but remember us here in Texas.

Best wishes Joe. I'll always appreciate the help you gave me on taking photos AND the humorous pictures you posted as well as those of your cannas and your sweet family.

Thanks all!

We are in Las Cruces, last leg of the trip. Albuquerque was a blast. Abigail had fun playing in the snow on Sandia Peak.

The Cannas - For those of that don't know I have a very nice collection, some rare and some really rare ones. Well, I dug them all up, bagged them and set them in boxes in the garage. I mopped the garage and left the garage door open so it would dry. I left to fill up the truck with gas and chatted with the cashier lady. When I returned someone decided that they should own my collection of cannas. How nice of them to take them off my hands. Oh well...

On a better note (long story)- when we were leaving Albuquerque this morning Abi said she needed to use the "potty". I decided to stop at the K-mart. While the ladies were inside I was adjusting all the straps on the truck and a man approached me. He had his daughter with him. He asked to use my phone. No big deal, when he returned my phone he looked depressed, said thanks and walked away. I watched him as they walked to his vehicle. He kneeled down and said something to her and he began to hug her and hold her. I was completely intrigued by them.

I called him back to where I was and asked if everything was okay. "I am just trying to get us back home"
" talk to me" I said. He drove them to the Children's Hospital so she could see a G.I. specialist. He showed men her abdomen, she had several scars and a plug. Their one day visit turned into three days and he had no gas money.

I asked myself- "What do I do" in mere seconds I broke it down:
1) is he telling the truth - seems so..
2) he never asked for money, just to use the my phone
3) should I give him money?

I gabbed a rather large bill and handed it him, he said thanks. He could not see the amount at first but when he did he yelled "Oh my God! We're going home, we're going home" He repeated that as he hugged her. The man was so overcome he started jumping in the air then he hugged me and started crying. He skipped, hoped and danced all the way to his car. I wanted to know their names so I could say a prayer for them. I motioned him back over once he was in his car - Darren and Hope.

Hope: that name has meaning I asked what the story behind her name was. Humbling...

His wife was was killed in a car wreck while pregnant with their daughter. She was born 9.5 weeks early, I didn't catch why but she had no intestines. She was not expected to live - he named her Hope. Tomorrow she turns four.

Let me share with you what was on my mind seconds before I met Darren and Hope. House decorating budget and buying the PS3.

I kissed my kids and wife, I was deciding how to spend money on pointless material possessions, Darren just wants his daughter to survive another year.

I spent less than 10 minutes with them, but I dont know if I'll ever forget them. He was my age and Hope was Abigal's age. I could be him, know what I mean?

Zjoe

Oh, Joe, the tears are streaming now. What a great story you have just shared with us. It really puts LIFE into perspective for me. "Things and stuff" --- this is how we usually choose to spend our money, and you have just shown us a better way. God bless you, my friend, and God bless Hope and Darren - I will pray for them.

Joe, I did not mean to minimize the loss of your cannas!! Your other story just touched me deeply. I am very sorry for the loss, and just cannot comprehend how anyone could take something that is not theirs - especially when it was evident that you had taken great care to package them. That was not a mistake on their part, they knew exactly what they were doing !!!

I'm so sorry someone took your Cannas! That was so crappy!
That story about the guy and his daughter gave me chills.
The stuff I worry about does seem trivial when I run into tragic stories like these too. I think everyone feels that way. I can happen to anyone. That thought is scary and humbling.
IMHO House decorating and games sound like family things. You're a family guy that was thinking about the comforts of family life. I think that's a good thing. You weren't thinking about drinkin and womanizin' with the "boys" eh?
I'm so glad you were there to help that man and his girl. I think God smiled on you and the family you helped that day. PJ

gives me chills, too, Joe;
As you said, we're all vulnerable.

I'm glad you were there for that little family.

Open garage doors are basically an open invitation, and unfortunately, there's someone out looking for them most of the time, in most places.

The encounter enroute, is simply an example of how charity SHOULD be done. You see someone in need, and you choose to help. One person to another. That's the best way, in my book. In this case, you may simply have been meant to have this encounter.