It was nearly two years ago that my mother-in-law last visited us, and what I thought might have been the last time she was going to fly over the Atlantic from Germany to visit us here in Phoenix, Arizona. Jutta’s flight was late by a few hours, as customs in Denver was bogged down, forcing her onto another airline late in the day.

Knowing Jutta’s routine of being the last to leave the plane, didn’t make it any easier while we were waiting, waiting, and impatiently waiting for her to descend the ramp that would let us relax seeing she made the later flight. Finally, that old familiar gait started to move closer, and before we saw her face, we knew who was moving slowly towards us. When her face did become clear, it had a smile 10 feet wide and her pace started her pressing into a near jog, we let her know it was okay to slow down; we’ve had our fair share of her falling over her feet on previous visits.

Reaching Caroline, Jutta couldn’t have been happier, not only was she in America after a day of traveling from Frankfurt, she had her arms wrapped snugly around her daughter. This is my mother-in-law’s 9th trip to America in 15 years. It will be during this visit just five days from today that she will pass her 365th day in the United States. Of her 77 years of age, a full year of that has been spent here, with Caroline and me. Welcome back, Jutta.