The next several days were spent back in our old stopping grounds
of the Twin Cities. This was where Dick and Patti met and both had lived for
quite some time.
Super fun to connect
with many old friends.
We were warmly greeted by dear friend Randy with whom we
would stay while in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul).
Randy was consolidating his duplex from two
floors to one floor since he had rented out the upstairs.
We were pleased to arrive at a time when we
could pitch in and be of assistance in this process.
Including helping him winnow down processes
including two kitchens to one to fit into the smaller space.
We are considering hiring ourselves out to
assist people in clearing out their extra possessions. LOL. Jut kidding.
In the midst of helping our friend Randy with his household
move, there were many breaks to fit in other visits and activities.
We went with Randy to a play at The Guthrie
Theatre, a premier theatre in the Upper-Midwest.
The show we saw was Clybourne Park, a follow
up to the classic play A Raisin in the sun.
We all found the show well written, timely, and often very poignant and funny.
It stimulated great conversation afterwards.
Dick spent a short time with his former wife, Laura and they
had a good visit. He also had the opportunity to have dinner with one of his
Men’s group members form 20 year’s earlier (Rich), and his wife and son: Laural
and Karl
Dick had the chance to hear
about what was important in each of their lives, especially as they try to help
Karl choose a university for a year from now.
Patti spent a delightful morning with her friend Diane and
Diane’s daughter Anna.
They went out to
the wonderful Minnesota Zoo where Anna, a very bright and charming 9-year old,
delighted in sharing her favorite animals. WE had a special treat of going
through a display of very realistic looking animatronic dinosaurs.
Cool and a bit scary, with some of them
splitting water at people and growingly loudly.
This Zoo has had many great updates since the last time we were there
and so it was great to see it in such good shape.
We also saw our friend Kay, who Patti has known for nearly
30 years.
It was so nice to spend time with her.
We caught up on all of the family news.
Then off to friends Scott and Flo’s
home.
There we got a tour of their
wonderful summer garden full of so many fine looking plants and flowers.
A quick time of wine and treats gave us a
chance to hear a bit about what each have been up to.
Then on to a favorite old restaurant WA Frosts in St. Paul
where we joined friends Keith and Ann for a delightful evening on the
patio. So great to reconnect with old friends! And so many tales to be told.
Following that dinner, Patti transferred over to spend a
couple of days and overnights at Ann and Keith’s home while Dick remained at Randy’s.
Patti and Ann talked nonstop for two days.
And had not run out of things to talk about
when the time had ended.
They have been
friend since Ann was Patti’s original supervisor in social worker school at
Jewish Family and Children’s Service nearly 25 years ago.
In the midst of talking, Patti and Ann walked over six miles
at the MN Landscape Arboretum, a favorite place for both Patti and Dick when
they lived in the area. The day was beautiful,
the plants, lovey, the weather great.
Walking and talking with a lot of time: Priceless.
Patti also got to meet Ann’s new granddaughter, Zoe, who at
age 6 and a half months had just started crawling the day before.
What totally fun and a bundle of joy she
was.
They went out to eat at the restart
where Zoe’s mother works, and had a great feast and joyful time with the baby.
This is one very loved and wanted baby!
Meanwhile, Dick and Randy had great conversations, talking
and working transforming his part of the duplex into the home he had
pictured. It was coming together so
well. They were so pleased to be able to
donate a truckload of household goods and furniture to help with a refugee
resettlement project. They also joined
friend Michael for a lovely time talking and catching up. We both so value friends and wish we could
see all of our friends more often, but this trip gave us a good dose of quality
friend time.
Somehow these days zipped along, and we would leave the next
morning for the next phase of our journey.
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