Friends are Forever

This afternoon at Rodrigo's Restaurant, we sat across the table from Dan & Jean. Years ago we were all kids together. We attended school, fell in love, got married, had babies, grew-up, and lived. Today we celebrated our history.

At some point in the late 70s, our friends moved to southern Oregon. Over the years we've managed to stay in touch. Once when we were on a bicycle trip from Florence, Oregon to San Francisco, Dan & Jean surprised us by driving from the Grants Pass, Rogue River region in Oregon to the top of California, to Crescent City, to see us (I think it was a 100 mile one-way trip). They had our itinerary and knew that we'd be spending the night there. We were more than surprised, we were elated. That's a fabulous memory.

Then in the summer of 2000 they left Oregon to move to the deep South, near Blue Ridge, Georgia, almost in South Carolina.

In 2002 or maybe it was 03, we read in the newspaper obituaries that Dan's mom had died. We knew they would be coming here for the service. We surprised them and attended the funeral. That day Jean grabbed me around the neck and cried and cried.

Today as we all met-up in the parking lot of the restaurant . . . she grabbed my neck and cried. Some friends are forever . . . in our lives Dan & Jean are in that category.

Over lunch we took photos . . . they took ours and we took theirs. More important we made memories that can never be erased as we each asked the other questions and told our stories.

This evening they came to our home for a couple hours. We sat in the family room by the fireplace . . . catching-up with each other. The Academy Awards were on the screen in the background. We paused a couple times to turn-up the volume and to cheer as we watched Jeff Bridges accept the Best Actor of the Year and Sandra Bullock accept the Best Actress of the Year Award, and Kathryn Bigelow receive the Best Director.

The day has run deep with memories. Dan & Jean we are so glad that we could spend time with you as you've come through our city on your way to Oregon to visit your kids and grandkids. We wish you weren't going, but we're glad you were here. We know your desire is to move back to the West Coast and when you do, let's spend more and more times together. We love you guys!

To my Blip family, you would love our friends, Dan & Jean.
Thank you for reading this far.

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol