Veronica (the first)

As you may remember, our sweet Veronica is actually not the first dear Veronica in our lives.   And this weekend we had an extra special treat-- Sister Johanna aka Veronica was in Chicago on holiday and we were able to see her.  Most noteworthy was that she was able to meet our little Veronica (and Caroline, too).

Actually, we were a bit nervous for a moment, because on the long-awaited day of our visit, Veronica became ill.  We certainly hoped that she'd get well soon..mostly because we wanted her to feel better, but also because we'd be so sad to miss seeing her!  We are so thankful that she recovered quickly and we were able to get together.

With the change of plans, we ended up meeting at Ann Sather's for lunch after church on Sunday and then her friend and hostess, Bernie, was so kind as to invite us back to sit and visit (all afternoon!).  It was nice to catch up and hear about the other nuns at Turvey who we remember so fondly.  (And speaking as Jenny, it was cool to see Freeman hanging out with people who've known him so long.)

Hamilton really enjoyed explaining to Veronica (the first) that her name was Sr Johanna, but also Veronica.  I think he was pretty pleased with himself for being able to grasp that concept.  Our little Veronica just gave a big grin and said, "ron-CA" when asked any of the name-related questions.  And our content Caroline just smiled and slept and took everything in.

Freeman, Veronica, and Bernie (who all attended DePaul together and apparently lived in the same dorms for several years).

More photos!  Bernie's sweet daughter joined the picture and was so kind to share her cool toys with the Whitney children.

Veronica and Hamilton spotted all of the "hidden" objects in the Blue's Clues book.

Veronica and Caroline checking each other out.

Yup, they decided they liked each other!

Crayons and a new book to color in...that's pretty exciting stuff.

And then, of course, sharing her work with Veronica, as well.

Veronica-bonding

The sisters  ( I so rarely dress them alike, I couldn't resist a quick photo)

As I type this, Veronica is on an airplane back to Turvey, England and the Abbey where we last saw her three years ago.  So much has changed in our lives since then and it was a precious opportunity to be able to share a snapshot of our lives circa 2012 with her.