Never say never

For over 7 years, my man has adamantly declared,

"I'll never go up to Alaska in the winter!"

But the draw of a new granddaughter and missing me weakened this resolve.

He dug out his gloves, packed the long johns and boarded a plane in Austin .

I've been so excited!! The visit is a surprise for Kathleen and Josh, so I've had to hold all my thoughts of it inside for 3 weeks. Whew-that's been so hard!!!

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Poor guy, who is a confirmed winter-hater, left Texas in 78 degree sunshine and arrived in Fairbanks 17 hours later to this:

That's a temperature difference of almost 80 degrees!!!

But notice how happy he looks as he listens attentively to the words of the official greeter at the Fairbanks International Airport.

I wonder what wisdom he is whispering in his ear?

I'll bet it's a good joke...

Posing with a gentle moose, do you recognize this jacket? (Don't even try if you were born after the early '70's.) This special edition was the exact coat that the ABC News broadcasters

wore during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

If Jack held a microphone in his hand you would have guessed right away,

I know. You just needed a little hint.

("And now, reporting live from the 90-meter ski jump....")

Why is he wearing a 30-year-old winter coat?

This "classic" was obtained after I worked a mere 3 days for ABC's Production Management Dept. just prior to the start of the Olympics.

Great job, wrong timing, enough said.

But the memorable coat made the cut when we were moving to Texas and parted with all other things "winter". Soooo, the good man had to find something to wear while in the far north

and this coat was pulled from the back of the closet.

Sometimes it's a handy thing to be a pack rat, right?

After casually walking in on an unsuspecting Kathleen at work, she kept repeating increduously, "Dad, what are you doing HERE?" She introduced him to her fellow office workers as "My Dad who said he'd NEVER come up in the winter!"

Then she had to sit down because she was getting contractions!

At the end of the first snowy day, after scraping the car windows 3 times; getting stuck in deep snow in Josh and Kathleen's driveway and finally just walking up the path to their house; feeling the fatigue from jet lag and a 3:30pm sunset, he fell asleep quickly.

I am thanking God he is here.

Remember, never say never.

You just never know...