HAPPY 88TH, GRANNY LIZ!

What a blessing it has been to have Granny Liz with us these past 3 week and especially today as it is her 88th birthday. For those who have asked, she has done amazingly well while she has been here. There have been days when she has been visited by pain in her legs and back, which is a regular occurrence; however, considering all that she has done since her arrival on May 7th, she has done very well. So, as a birthday tribute to her today, we wanted to share some pictures of her recent trip to London.

We (Brenda and Liz) boarded the train in Oxford for the short 58 minutes ride to London’s Paddington station. Our quaint little hotel was only a 3 minute walk from the train station and was reminiscent of the beautiful row house of Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady.”

Once we were checked in to our hotel, we headed around the corner to hop on one of those double-decker sight-seeing buses and spent the next 3 hours taking in the sights and sound of London from our birds-eye view on the top deck. We were delighted to find that our front row seats were directly across the aisle from a mother and daughter from Austin, Texas. We’ve found that Texans are just about everywhere!

Taking the bus tour on this first day give her a chance to decide which places she wanted to venture back to and spend time at the next day. We ended our day at St. Paul’s Cathedral where we attended their evening worship and prayers – Evensong. Evensong has taken place every evening since the cathedral opened in 1697. This beautiful place was the site of the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981. The beautiful pipe organ and the voices of 20 little boys were truly heavenly.


Rising early the next day, our first stop was the London Eye.
We enjoyed clear skies for our 30 minute “flight” around this giant Ferris wheel on the bank of the River Thames. From our “pod” we had incredible views of the House of Parliament and Big Ben as well as Buckingham Palace in the distance across St. James Park.

Then we were off to the Tower of London which is the most historic site in London. Begun by William the Conqueror in 1066 A.D., it was home to the British monarchy until the mid-1500s and there is a house within the walls which can be stayed in at any time by the Royal Family. To see the entirety of the Tower would take no less than 3 hours and a lot of walking. Therefore, Granny was quite satisfied to just hear the stories of the beheading of Anne Boleyn and others rather than stand in the place when it took place.

It was at a dock close to the Tower that we hopped on a boat to cruise back up the River Thames toward Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

From there we were back on the sight-seeing bus and on our way to Buckingham Palace for the final stop of our day.

It has been an incredible blessing to spend these past few weeks enjoying this beautiful country with such a lovely lady. We’ve visited the villages, admired the flowers, been awestruck by the enormity of the castles and the history they represent, and been humbled at the realization that somewhere in the ruins and records of this ancient country lies our ancestry. Yes, Thomas Gooch, Granny’s great-great-great . . . grandfather, left England in the early 1700s to start a new life in America. Maybe we’ll check into that someday. However, for today, her 88th birthday, we’ve enjoyed a Cream Tea and been thankful once again for the goodness of our God to give us this amazing experience.