Wednesday, October 7, 2009

♫ "...and the other gold" ♫

old friends...

It's amazing how you can reconnect with old friends and it's like you were never apart--despite the years.

After leaving Idaho on my trip to take Heather to BYU-Idaho, I drove to Washington state to reconnect with a couple of old friends. I stayed the night in Baker City, then drove up through eastern Washington and over to the Seattle area.

(Let me tell you--Eastern Washington is a wasteland! Thank goodness the Lord didn't send the Mormon pioneers there! It made Utah look like a lush garden. I digress...)

Growing up, my best friend was Arlynn. We met in Primary when we were three years old, and we soon became inseparable. Salt and pepper. Mustard and ketchup. Kathy and Arlynn.

Doesn't she look like fun? She was. I could do a whole blog about our adventures together. Our birthdays are only a week apart, so we kinda felt like twins. Then we kinda grew apart during the teen years. But that tie from our childhood remained.




All by myself (thank you very much), I drove to her place. Seattle traffic is way scary. (I guess I didn't do it all by myself. The Lord definitely helped me.)

For two days we talked and laughed and reminisced. We're both older and life has happened. She's had some tough times. Now she's looking happy. Good husband. Two great boys.

Wayne, Arlynn, Patrick (her other son is married and lives in Rexburg)

Things I love about Arlynn: great sense of humor, tender soul, willingness to forgive, looks for the good in others, caring about others, creative sense of fun, desire to be a peacemaker, love of family, infectious laugh, makes me feel like I'm someone special.

After leaving Arlynn, I wanted to drive to my other friend's place, on Whidbey Island. That meant taking the ferry. I was nervous about getting on the ferry, but the ticket taker gave me some good advice: "Just go with the flow. Piece of cake." I kept repeating that to myself as I drove into the line and up into the boat. Here's my view from inside the ferry:


The guy was right--piece of cake.

Then off to find my friend Lilian. She was my greenie when I served my mission. Here she is in Cologne. (Can you figure out what this sign meant? We couldn't.)
Lilian was a fun companion. A native Cuban, her German had a bit of Spanish accent. She liked to count Cocker Spaniels; she sliced bananas into the bottom of her soup; she would buy a large chocolate bar and make it last all week. (I ate mine in a couple of seconds.) (Fun fact: Her last city was my first city. She got to see a lady baptized that I found by tracting.) After our missions, we roomed together at BYU for a year.

Many years have gone by since we'd seen each other, but, as with Arlynn, we picked up right where we'd left off. She showed me around the sights of Whidbey Island. Beautiful. We spent two days talking, reminiscing, and catching up. It was so good. She's been through a lot, too, including cancer. But she's well, now.

Lilian and I in beautiful Coupeville.


The view from Deception Pass Bridge.


The view from the hills above Deception Pass.

Things I love about Lilian: ENTHUSIASM!, great people skills, deep desire to please her Heavenly Father, sense of humor, great laugh, tender heart, insightful, makes me feel like I'm someone special.

After leaving Lilian, I drove the six-hour drive home. So, I was gone a total of two weeks. Saw family, friends. Reconnected in many ways. It was a trip that did my heart good.

♫ "Make new friends and keep the old. One is silver..." ♫

2 comments:

LeaAnne said...

What a GREAT POST!!!!! Really wonderful story telling Kathy! :) I Love the title and end connection! I am also SO very grateful for you and our friendship. I love you.

Sara said...

What a great trip! Makes me want to load up in the car and track down my old friends. Glad you had a nice break and nice reconnections :)