Chauffeuring the Girls

Who are the girls? That would be my 89 year old mother, Mary, and her best friend Lola. Mom and Lola have been friends for almost 70 years and they are two of the most awesome women I know. To have a friendship that has lasted that long in this day and age is, in itself, baffling and awe inspiring at the same time.

The girls talk on the phone (for hours) almost daily. They go to yard sales whenever they can. Usually Lola is the designated driver. Mom’s remarks about her driving makes me know she is the senior on the back roads driving 35 and getting cussed out by everyone piling up behind her. That’s OK… they eventually get to their destination.

However, Lola has been ill this summer. Driving has been a bit of a problem and they haven't been able to get around and enjoy all the things they usually do. So when they were both invited to the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of a couple, Ray and Elaine, who had “grown up” in the church they were eager to go. But how would they get to the anniversary; it was out of town? So I volunteered to go along and drive the girls to the party.

Mom was so excited about going she spent 2 weeks before the event making sure that everything was in place. That meant, she kept me on a tight leash with daily reminders to do the proper thing… like “get a really nice card since they had requested ‘no gifts’ and they were giving us a free dinner”… and keeping me aware that I had an appointment and I had better be “on time” because they did not want to be late. “They’re serving dinner right at 5 o’clock, you know.”

So the day arrived. I dressed up a little bit, got in my car for the 20 minute drive 45 minutes early (we were on time) and went to pick up Mom and then on down the road to pick up Lola. I plugged in a favorite cd, turned the music down so the girls could chatter away… and boy did they!

I have always been amazed that my mom remembers where everybody lived over her almost 90 years on this earth… but driving down the country roads to the next town was like having 2 tour guides along for the ride. The comments were nothing if not stimulating and varied not a bit in nature. They followed something like this…

“You know Clarence lived there until he moved to…”

“...and Charles lived right next door… there in that house”

“You remember Bert & Ethel, now this house coming up on the right… wait not that one… there it is… now... that one, that’s where they lived” as an aside… “You know it’s been so many years it’s hard to remember these houses; they’ve changed so much.” Well for my money they were remembering pretty dog-gone good.

We arrived at the party and were ushered in with hugs, kisses, and a lot of “I haven’t seen you in ages”, “how are you doing”, “how are the kids”, “where is ____ now” I stared around at a sea of faces that were familiarly strange and I tried to put names to them and finally gave up until they gave themselves away by some remark they would make. I stared at a lot of beautiful women who wore their years well but seemed a little oblivious since the frequent hair color seemed to be some strange tint of orange (you know that color one gets when trying to touch up the gray yourself instead of having it done professionally). I tripped into the bathroom for a quick check in the mirror to make sure I hadn’t caught the bug. Good! My hair was still gray and there was no hint of orange anywhere around my face.

It turned into one of the most fun nights I have had in years. I loved the girls, I loved watching them visit with old friends and get caught up in family stories, remembrances and just getting embraced by all those who really loved them. When the evening wound down and I was able to usher two tired ladies to the car we began our journey home. They chatted about their friends and the good old days.

I smiled when the evening was over and I pulled the car into the driveway at home. I thought to myself that the most beautiful women there had been my silver haired mom and her silver haired friend Lola… and of course the beautiful bride, Elaine, silver hair shining as much as her smile. But aside from the fun time of seeing old friends, the thing I was really, really glad about was that I don’t have orange hair.

launch day!

well... i'm going to launch this thing. watch out world! here i come.

it still isn't perfect, but is anything?

there are still a couple things i want to add. check back with me and see how i'm doing.

for some reason there is a knot in my stomach, the kind you get just as you step in front an audience to do your public speaking thing. i hope this goes well, if not, please be patient with me. i'm still a novice.

anyway, thanks for stopping in.

taking a deep breath. ok... here goes!

anne

just to get things going

so finally, i decided i was ready to get with the times and create a web site. well, hasn't this been fun? That is not a redundant question...and the answer is "NO!"

rather frustrating actually, but I figure i'll get the hang of it with a little practice. so i'm here typing this, and actually, i'm not sure if it will even show up on my site. experimentation... ah, yes! the things from which dreams are realized. or whatever!

well, if it works... i'll soon be adding to this. if it works, i'll soon get this dang thang launched. if it works!

it better work