Best Friends for Life

I started this post October 24th, so I thought before I make any more blog entries or work on NaNoWriMo, I better finish this....

Hi! How are you? Gee, it's been a long time since we've had a chance to sit down and have a chat. Anything new and exciting in your life?

It has been 40 days since my last post. Doesn't really seem like that long. My best friend from North Carolina came up here for a visit. She was born and raised here in Michigan, but moved away about 22 years ago. She had only been back once or twice for a short visit. She stayed just a couple days shy of a month.

She got to see the trees change colors. We took a trip to northern Michigan where the colors were in full force. The brilliant oranges, yellows and reds contrasted by the dark green of the pines. She took pictures for her son-in-law who had never seen the autumn transformation. I found it strange, but then she explained... North Carolina doesn't have that. One day the leaves are on the trees and the next day they aren't... they just die and fall off.

She came up here with her car packed full... her clothes, personal items, a variety of projects (quilt [with sewing machine], socks [knitting], towel topper [crocheting], afghan [knitting], pajamas [sewing... pattern, material and machine], Squinkey's stuff (her Chihuahua baby) and lots more. Of course, knowing she was coming to Michigan, she brought gloves but NO COAT! We ended up shopping for a coat at Goodwill where she found a beautiful (like new) heavy coat plus lots more stuff. It was good times at the Goodwill!

We took a day and drove to our old neighborhood. We drove by our elementary school, by some friends house near there, past the house I lived in, the path we walked to school, the streets between my house and hers (where we played softball, football and $5), and finally stopping at the house next to hers (see previous posts). Kathy wasn't home so we left a note and stopped at the coffee shop across the street. We could see the house from our chairs, along with the stores we frequented. She says, "I am surprised we haven't seen anyone we knew back then." Then she says, "Hmpf, maybe they have, but we probably wouldn't have recognized them!" Kathy called while we were just finishing our Lattes so we back to her house. We took a tour of her gardens (took pictures). We stood outside looking at both backyards (side by side) and did a lot of "remember when" while pointing to this or that.

It was kind of weird being in that house again. It hasn't changed much. So many afternoons I sat in Kathy's living room talking to her about school, friends, boyfriends, life in general.... Here I was, once again, sitting in her living room talking to her... but this time, she was filling me in on her family (there were a lot of them then and LOTS more now). Before we knew it, 4 hours had passed! We had one more stop to complete our day. Fat Man's Fish Fry! We ordered lots of our favorites and brought them home to share with the Polish Prince. Some memories are better left undisturbed. Sure didn't taste as good as we remembered!

It even snowed just for her! Well, that's what I keep telling everybody. How do you explain so much snow so early in the season? I guess they get snow down there in NC, but not much and not for long. So she was out early with her camera capturing the moment (which lasted all damn day!). The trees were heavy with the snow. It definitely looked like a Winter Wonderland. I took a lot of pictures, too. We selected the best and sent them via email to her husband and kids.

It was an absolutely wonderful time with her here. We were so comfortable with each other. She helped out when I needed it and even when I didn't! At times we talked non-stop, others we were comfortable with the silences. We worked on our various projects, shared thoughts and ideas, watched television or took turns on the computer.

The time came when she decided she should go back. She said she should go before the snow hit again or she would have to stay until spring... I said, "Yeah, so?" I would have been happy and content to have her stay until then. She might have been happy but she wouldn't have been comfortable... too cold for her. Hell, it's too cold for me but I got no choice!

Deb left for home on Wednesday, October 18th... with a heavy heart, I waved her goodbye. She arrived safe and sound at home on the 20th. Life goes back to the way it was (sort of). We haven't had much chance to catch up online. I think she has lots of projects to finish (some she started while here) and I have projects to finish, NaNoWriMo and a family tragedy to deal with. Which makes me miss her even more.