Morning brought Patti driving through the construction on so many of the streets and highways to meet dear friend Diane for breakfast. We settled in for a long time catching up on news about family and friends. We also had conversations as so many of the conversations had turned during this month to questions about work and retirement and future plans. We both agreed that currently there are so many uncertainties as to what’s happening with our country and with government funding, etc. that it’s difficult to make solid retirement plans. But a great conversation and nice to get caught up.
Then Patti drove back to South Minneapolis and picked up Dick. We made a quick round of one of the many lakes in the area and Patti insisted that we stop to take a photo of the giant No 2 pencil.
We drove back to St. Paul to have lunch with two other dear longtime friends: Mary and Mary’n. It had been quite a while since the four of us had been together, and there were so many stories to catch up on about recent life journeys. We had lunch on this sweet outdoor patio at a local pub called The Gnome. There were so many stories to tell and hear. Following lunch, we went back to their house for a couple more hours out on their beautiful back deck. Much more talking and reflecting on life and health and Mary’s recent retirement. Finally, it was time to wrap up, but it was so good to be together.
Patti and Dick had saved one more stop of the day before our time in the Twin Cities was ending. We went to the Lake Harriet Rose Garden. This was the garden that 31 years ago was the site of our wedding. We walked to the front area by the fountain and had such warm memories of so many friends and families who gathered to celebrate our marriage. And it was quite sobering to remember the number of dear loved ones who have now passed away and are no longer with us. That was quite a long list and brought tears to both of us in thinking about their passing.
Then Dick pulled out of his wallet our wedding vows that he carries around with him at all times. And in turn, we read them aloud to each other. The vows start “Love is to be cherished when you find it in life, and I cherish it in you.” We try to regularly read this and are quite pleased that the words that we committed to each other still stand strong. We walked around and our hearts were full of memories. Patti asked a couple of young women if they would take our picture because we had been married there, and one was very pleased to do so. It was such a lovely way to spend our last afternoon in Minnesota before we have to leave early the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment