Laura and I got back from MIT late last night and left this morning to fly to Amarillo, Texas.

I remember the first time I made this flight to meet my husband’s family, when I looked out on that barren tableland, and asked God why He couldn’t have made me fall in love with someone from Switzerland or Hawaii. Since then, I have learned that what this place lacks in terms of topography, it makes up for in terms of people.

We’re looking forward to seeing the wonderful folks there; it has been four years since we’ve been back.

The Amarillo airport has been named after Rick Husband, a local astronaut who made a big impression on our oldest daughter by personally writing her kindergarten class because of her dad’s Amarillo connections. (Unfortunately soon after, he lost his life on the space shuttle that went down.) Below, you can see Virginia, grown now, with his statue in Amarillo…