Gregory is another year sweeter, stronger, wiser, and greater.
“For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes.”
Dag Hammarskjold
Happy, happy day mon amour…
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While we were in Denver, we did a lot of driving, a lot. Normally, I get a little crabby when I have to be in the car so frequently, and for such great distances (Denver is a lesson in s-p-r-a-w-l), some places an hour from another while never leaving the metro area, but this was worth it because we got to visit people we hadn’t seen in years. There’s nothing like sitting with someone, gazing in their eyes, hearing their voice, smelling their familiar scent, watching their toes wiggle while they talk, so much better than an e-mail, a letter, or Christmas card, no matter how heartfelt.
I think that one of the surest signs of a great friendship is the ability to feel as though little time has passed since last meeting, even if it has been years, so easy is it to get into that comfortable space, the place that is home. I am grateful that this is the case with all pictured here. I love you, guys!
That’s me and Linda – you remember her. We had a great time hanging out at her house with her cutie kids Allie and Hunter. They are whip-smart, fun, and adorable, of course! I love how they have all the cool toys I never had as a kid, like a cash register and a playhouse in the yard. Boy, I can remember gazing wistfully at them in the Montgomery Ward catalogue – wouldn’t it be fun to play store in the playhouse?! We also finally got to meet her husband Buzz – a handsome man with kindness to match, and a perfect fit for her. Thanks, too for the refrigerator full of fun drinks and the hobo burgers, yum!
Say Hello to Chara, whom I met through my friend Whitney, and was later my boss at Williams-Sonoma (a pet peeve – It is Williams-Sonoma, not Williams and Sonoma. Chuck Williams’ first store was in Sonoma, okay?) Sorry, digression. She’s now a nurse for teeny-tiny babies and the mother of triplets! I wish I took a picture of them (so sweet and each their own person) and their dear papa, Matt.
The four of us had grand times together – playing games, making each other dinner, sneaking a full bag of tortilla chips, cheese dip, and Twizzlers into the movies(*EDIT – Yesterday I almost wrote that we brought a roasted chicken, too, but thought, no, that’s too much, I must have dreamed that part, but no! The G-Man confirmed it)! One of my fondest memories is of martinis at the Fourth Story Restaurant at the old Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek. They had a nice jazz band, and we ate and talked and drank. Well, at least they did. I am not a big drinker, and Matt teased me because I still had a bit left in my glass when everyone else was working on their second or third. “You want a to go cup for that honey?” I laughed so hard that I spilled said drink all over myself and received even more ribbing from Matt. Good times.
Hello Michael, Mary, and Jesuscito! If I were a bit more organized, I would have scanned the picture we took of them in this same spot twelve years ago. Their son Max was holding Crybaby Arthur the cat, and Gussie (the best crate-trained dog I’ve ever seen) was standing next to Mary. Now Max is out on his own, learning all about grid power and the intricacies of bikes. Arthur gave us one of his best cries, but, sadly, Gus’s crate is no longer in the dining room. Soon enough there will be more changes, as Michael and Mary will be in their next home, a cool Mid-Century modern place in Littleton. We can’t wait to see the pictures.
While living in Denver, we had great outings to thrift stores, various breakfast places in search of the best biscuits and gravy, and spent a special Thanksgiving in Santa Fe. We stayed in adjoining rooms at the very cool El Rey Inn on Cerillos (the only place we stay when we go back), had killer burritos from the Burrito Company (still there and yummy good!), all while taking in the finest Sante Fe has to offer. I was even mistaken for Max’s girlfriend while poor Gregory was back at the inn with a raging fever. I probably look too old now. Ahh, time.
Andie Card! Thanks to Linda helping me land a job at Amici’s, I met my dear Andie. We bussed tables together on Friday nights and then drove around in her old Bug laughing our heads off at her driving skills, the odd behavior of customers, our co-workers (oy! a book could be written), and, of course, our selves.
Andie has the quick wit most of us can only aspire to. Sometimes, she is on to the next joke before I even understood the last. She makes me laugh, and then she makes me cry with laughter. She’s also fiercely indepdent, strong, and one of the best people to have in your corner. I’m glad she’s in mine.
p.s. If you look in the reflection on the car you can see my legs there near the mirror, like a granny. “Hey there honey, let me take a pho-to of you in that snazzy car!”
This is Rena, Jeff, and their adorable kitty, Jackie Chan. Like Linda and Andie, I’ve known Jeff a long time. We met in an incredibly boring Oceanography class my first semester of college – way back in 1989. I think I had bangs then, and he had one of those long tails of hair down his back. Once he cut it off, he grew facial hair and joked, “It transplanted itself up front.” I liked Jeff right away because he would make fun of the professor using nutty voices, “Back at Woods Hole…”
Rena came into the picture after we moved, but we became fast friends on visits. She is the perfect complement to Jeff, smart, independent and funny in her own right – a fine couple. They are a hoot to hang out with, know tons about geology (I’ve forgotten almost everything, I’m afraid), are great at games (I’ll post pictures of us playing the Wii another time), and just darn nice!
I feel so privileged to have so many wonderful friends! Thank you all…
Late Monday night, as I stepped out of the cab that brought us home from the airport, I was so very happy. Hello Portland, hello street, hello house!
I lugged my heavy suitcase (though not as heavy as Gregory’s :) ) up the front steps and openened the door to be greeted by little Paris peeking out of the shadows. Milo was meowing up a storm by the back door and was promptly let in. The house was stuffy, so I opened the windows to bring in the air that is home. It felt so good, for as much as I enjoy traveling, I enjoy coming home even more.
I love rummaging through the giant pile of mail left on the dining room table, wandering around admiring the rooms we’ve created together, sitting quietly on the sofa and listening to the house creak, and best of all, cuddling up with my sweet hubby in our bed, before drifting off to sleep.
Dorothy, there really is no place like home…
RFK died forty years ago today. Just like MLK, I was three years from being born. Again, just like MLK, I think of him practically every day. He both inspires me and reminds me of myself – a bit overzealous and eager to prove himself as a young person (have you ever seen him question Jimmy Hoffa?), but mellowing with age. What might he have done with more time? What will I do with mine?
He had a wonderful grace about him and magical way of inspiring even the most downtrodden. I love watching footage of him interacting with crowds. I am amazed at how people wanted so badly to touch him that he needed members of his staff to hold him about the waist, to keep him tethered, so to speak. Otherwise, he would have disappeared into the throng there to see him. He never seemed frightened or perturbed either, only eager to shake one more hand. The footage I love most, however, is of him interacting with children – his own or perfect stangers. There was no denying his love and concern for their welfare.
And then, there were his words. Here are, in my opinion, a few of his most inspiring quotations.
“Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation … It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
“Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws — but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted — when we tolerate what we know to be wrong — when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened — when we fail to speak up and speak out — we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.”
“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.” Indianapolis, Indiana, April 4, 1968 Announcing to the crowd that Martin Luther King had been assassinated.
“Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it.” From his last speech.
January 26, 1991. What I thought was possibly the worst day of my life turned into the luckiest. First, my car was literally blown off the road and into a ditch in a gale force wind on Highway 93 en route to Boulder, Colorado. Second, I had to take a ride with strangers to actually get to Boulder, something I had never done before, nor have since. I was terrified! Are these people going to kill me? Thankfully they didn’t. Third, my sort-of boyfriend, upon my late arrival at my final destination of Fort Collins, instead of asking me if I was okay, demands, “Where’s my stuff?” I had to leave it in my car that was in a ditch on the side of a road you #$&! I would not speak to him again for another eight years.
Now that I had no plans to see the not-so-nice guy, I went to a hotel kegger with my friends. There on the bed, I chatted with a very cute and sweet guy I had met once before. When he got up to fill his beer, he asked me to save his seat. I did. We went out on our first date two weeks later, February 9, 1991. Two years and a little over three months after that, we were married, May 29, 1993. Today makes fifteen years – the absolute best of my life.
Sometimes, I can hardly believe it is true. I look at him with amazement and pure joy every single day. He’s with me! He’s my absolute best friend, confidante, and partner in crime. Our life together could not be more perfect, really it couldn’t.
Thank you wind, thank you strangers, thank you jerk!
I love you, Buddy. Happy Anniversary!
