BRING IT ON! VISITS FROM FRIENDS

March was a busy month for us. For some reason friends and family from “back home” (I don’t really consider it “home” at all anymore, but labeling it as such is simpler) all divurged on us in "record" number...meaning more than one LOL...this one short month. And we couldn’t have been more pleased!! Seeing friends we’d not seen in years, long time friends from our home town, from our son from Oregon who doesn’t make it down but a few times a year, and from the wife of another inmate was a welcome treat. "Bring it on” is our motto when it comes to visitors to our home.

Following Ted and Susans visit from “back home”, Derek flew in, sans family this time, for a weekend visit with his brother. I know Corey was happy to see him, and much as he likes to see the “entire family (Dereks wife and his little niece and nephew) having his bro, just the two of them, meant plenty of relaxed time to catch up on their lives, to talk about all those things especially of interest to them both, sports (!!!), family, their ongoing life experiences. There haven’t been enough of those visits, sadly, with the distance that separates them, the rising costs of air fare, and the difficulty in managing Dereks work schedule AND family life with two small children, finding these opportunities has been difficult. Both the boys lives have moved forward these past 7 years in distinctly different directions and finding their way back to each other, to the close relationship they once shared as brothers, takes work, as with any “relationship” worth preserving.

Following on Derek’s heels, literally, friends from Canada came to visit. Audrey and I have been friends for more years than I care to count, and whenever we do manage to see each other again (this has been the first visit since our move to California) we seem to just pick up where we left off…which seems like just minutes ago! Funny thing about that, how easy it can be with some friends. I share a lot of memories with Audrey, dating back to before first grade when we lived in rural Osoyoos, and at that, "just over the hill" from each other. On and off over the years we’d be best of friends, with detours along the way as “life” would get in the way, and its so much fun when we come together again, no matter how many years have passed in-between, to recount some of those memories. At moments they will sometimes jump out and beg to be “re-lived“ in conversation.

One of my fondest memories with Audrey was a summer in the early 70’s (a “summer of love” type of summer, so “ 60’s/early 70’s, right?) she and I, both in our very early 20’s, strapped on our backpacks and hit the road to California from Vancouver, B.C. Hitchhiking, back in those times, was more common, we did it daily in the city to get from A to B, and rarely dangerous (or so we believed in our perhaps naive oh so young minds!), IF one used common sense and took certain precautions. And maybe it was mind over matter because we lived to tell the tale LOL.

Anyways, we had a never to be forgotten, wonderful, very “freeing” summer, that summer of ‘70, as we backpacked all over beautiful California (and even into parts of Mexico), mostly west coast California, meeting and staying with other alternative life-style, peace loving folks we’d meet everywhere on our journey. We both have many “stories” from those days, some we look back and shriek “WHAT were we thinking???!!!“ and others we just smile silently in rememberance.

I digress, following on the heels of that visit was one by Rikki and her little one year old baby, here to visit from Salt Lake City, Ut, to spend time with hubby and father, Stan, who is Coreys cellmate. Staying with us is less complicated and relaxing, naturally, than a hotel room and we are happy to help ease the stress that can accompany her visits, her long trip out with a baby in tow. Rikki is a wonderful mother, and delightful young woman we enjoy very much.

But the “company” is all gone and April so far appears to be a blank page. But with it comes “spring” and all things are possible.

I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes. ~Sara Teasdale, "The Philosopher"