Lifelong Friends

You were afraid it was going to be another post about 1927, right? I may not be done with that topic yet. And, I am for SURE not done with my rant about washing machines. I'm doing a little research about which washing machine WE CAN AND SHOULD BUY...

But today -- I'm looking back on our Pennsylvania vacation. One of the highlights is always THE FOOD. On our way into town, we stopped at Palermo's in Minersville to pick up a pizza and a calzone...

This HUGE calzone was $9 -- filled with delicious cheese (and ham) -- and we ate it for a week!!

But, of course, the real value to our Pennsylvania trip every year is visiting with friends and family.

Kathy Keefer is my lifelong friend. Gheesh...I've known her since BEFORE I HAD CHILDREN.  We were neighbors for only three years, but during that time, we talked in person or on the phone every single day.  Each of us knew what the other was thinking, doing, or cooking on that day.  We gained and lost weight together -- TOPS was our weekly night out!  Kathy gave a surprise baby shower for me when I was pregnant with Ross...

But we moved to Iowa when Ross was just a year old, and in those days, talking on the phone meant huge LONG DISTANCE charges.  Remember?  

Fortunately,  every year, we'd go back to Pennsylvania for our family vacation and Kathy and I would always pick up right where we left off.

 I promised Kathy I would NOT PUT HER PICTURE in my blog this year...but I made no such promise to her dog, Daisy...

Fast forward 25 years. Ross was moving to Pennsylvania to take a job with the CBS affiliate. He arrived with a jam-packed Ford Escape and a U-Haul, no place to live and not much of a plan. Kathy and Denny took him in "for a couple of days". When Ross went to work, Denny unpacked the U-Haul, and those days turned into weeks.

Living with the Keefers turned out to be a real blessing for Ross. He became part of their family. Kathy and her boys will always be his lifelong friends.  Ross still talks about Kathy's cooking.  She is one of those people who can make TOAST taste delicious, y'know??

When you go to Kathy's house -- she can whip out a spread like this in five minutes. You don't even realize she's doing it...

Another non-Kathy picture...son Ryan and his family. Ryan has his mother's love of all-things-canning!! They put up hundreds of jars of garden goodness every year...tomatoes, salsa, soup, applesauce, jams, juice, chutney...you name and they have a pantry full of it!!

In your life, people come and go. Nobody's perfect, and things happen. You lose touch...they move, you lost all the numbers in your cellphone. Stuff gets in the way, then too much time passes...

But the older I get, the more I realize WHAT A GIFT IT IS to have a true friend. So if you are looking back, and wondering whatever happened to your wonderful friend...CALL THEM. You might be surprised how easy it is to pick up where you left off...