The Everlasting Magic of Friendships - Time Out #342

Please, check your calendars, readers in Our Town and far beyond. It's no April Fool; Spring officially arrived almost 2 weeks ago. What a great season, Springtime! As the Covid-19 pandemic becomes more and more distant in our rear view mirrors, we are able to be less stressed, and more optimistic. My always glass-is-half-full attitude has certainly been helped along my life's path, courtesy of my many friendships. These special people in my life periodically pop up, and each time they do, I am blessed! Friends are wonderful gifts that just keep on giving. Recently, our 94-year-old friend, Doris Eberlein from Wausau, WI, and I talked for about an hour, while I was on my daily walking exercise. My bride, Lady Deborah, and I met this friendly Wisconsin lady about 10 years ago when she and her pre-teen grandson, Graham, from New Hampshire, cruised the Seine River with us on a Uniworld ship, We traveled round trip Paris to/from historic Normandy, France. After our recent, lengthy telephone chat, I felt Doris and I once again cemented our friendship, even though it has been a decade since we were together, cruising in France. Fast forward to a few weeks later when our neighbor, Ann, who lives 6 homes away, called me, and told me a former Our Town resident and school classmate, Philip Ward, was driving to town from Colorado. Ann said Philip mentioned several people he would like to see in the brief time he would be here, those folks being Rusty Shaw and me. Fortunately, Rusty lives in our neighborhood, so the small get-together was easily arranged. I telephoned Steve Gray, since he was also a classmate of Philip's long ago, and Steve made the short drive to our home. Basically, the 4 of us sat around for almost 3 hours, laughing, recalling many past events and people common to all of us. We simply reconnected the friendships we have had for over 65 years! Just as soon as one person would finish a story of a former remembered experience, another would quickly take up the conversation, telling his own special tale! There wasn't a silent break in the action during the entire evening discussion. I told my bride of almost 41 years, Lady Deborah, I am sure the quartet could have kept the air popping with comments for another few days, instead of the magical few hours we actually chatted. The major point here is true friendship is such a wonderful thing; absolutely priceless! Just about every Friday afternoon in Our Town's Mazzio's Restaurant, this friendship theme is vigorously continued. For many years now, our core-group of around 10 people forms up after 1 p.m., and holds various gab sessions for a couple of hours. It is always interesting to hear assorted group members express their opinions about a myriad of topics. Occasionally, someone will throw out a verbal "curve" ball to the small audience, and we will let it soak in before we respond. The real Friday afternoon treat, however, is when we have visitors drop by we haven't seen for years. Because friends are always friends no matter how long it has been since we last saw them, it doesn't take too long for the newcomer(s) to blend in with that particular week's conversational topics. And, as I have stated in past installments, any verbal disagreements we have during our weekly sessions, quickly disappear once we leave the lunch table. Remember, friends are friends for the long haul. Yes, life is good; continually enriched by our friendships. Friends are just strangers we haven't met yet?