May 16th, 2017

Meet Susan! (on the left) Susan is an old friend of mine from when I lived in Connecticut which is now more than 11 years ago!  My how time flies. We have sort of kept in touch all these years, mostly through Facebook.  We had become, without any intention of doing so, what my Mother called, "Christmas Card Friends".   That is, people who live far away from each other and while you still care about each other, you don't get to actually see each other face to face.

We met a long time ago.  I lived on a working farm in rural Connecticut and she walked past it on a daily basis.  She was crazy about horses and we had horses.  She boldly (one of many traits of hers that I admire) walked up to my door and asked about the horses.  From that point forward, she was a fixture in my house.  She babysat my kids, I taught her some family recipes, she helped with the animals, I encouraged and supported her interest in music.  And then the day came when I was babysitting her kids and she was sharing her recipes with me.  And we call that full circle.

And then the day came when Tim and I moved to Colorado.  Sue had intentions of coming to Colorado on a ski tip but that somehow didn't happen.  And I never even tried to go back to Connecticut.  But I knew through Facebook what was happening with her and she with me. We would comment on each other's posts, admire the photos that we shared and then Tim and I moved again. 

I guess I have been a little caught up in the business of our move and settling in and learning our new state that I've missed a few things here and there because I had no idea that Susan had also moved to Florida until recently.  She now lives a bit of a distance away but at least on the same coast.  And she is the one who got up early and made the long drive here to see us.

I don't know if she was concerned if, after all this time, it would be a little awkward to see each other again, but I was.  A little bit.  I shouldn't have been.  Susan is still Susan and apparently I am still me because as soon as she walked in the door it was comfortable and easy.  We talked a mile a minute trying to catch up on more than a decades worth of our lives.  We talked while eating, we talked while sitting in the house, we talked while walking to the beach and to town.

Thomas Wolfe famously wrote the book, "You Can't Go Home Again".  People grow and change, even towns change but history is a fixed period in time. It remains the same.  So it stands to reason that we cannot as the people we are now, go back and expect everything and everyone to be the same.  But we can re-meet someone from our past and start again from this moment and move forward all the while cherishing the memories that we share.

It's about staying open, heart, mind and front door. Sue, I'm so glad you came to visit!  I look forward to seeing you and the entire gang again one day soon!