Addition to the last post
As usual, with so much information to process at once - I forgot, what I think, is a very important moment in the story. We need to go back to Atlantic, IA and the wonderful woman I talked with for several hours. At some point during the conversation I had excused myself to go back to the van and search, in vain, for my pack of cigarettes. I returned, but not with the smokes. Instead I had the Staff of Oz. (Which is funny because today someone referred to me as The Wizard of Oz. LOL.) Anyway, when I had gone to the van the staff had called out to me. There was a gift for the woman. There was a hand carved acorn attached to the Staff. It was this that had spoken to me. It would now be hers. A representation of the growth and the strength. As I neared the table she commented on the staff. In particularly...she was drawn to the acorn. (For reasons of her own.)