We first knew Patty, in Juneau, when she was three years old. We left Juneau, to move to Oregon, seven years later. After our move a decade or so passed before we saw Patty (briefly) again, when we attended her and Edwin's wedding. Two more decades have passed since then. We've kept in touch with Patty's parents over the years, though not as well as we should have. What has put us all back in touch in the last year or two are reading each others' blogs.
Last night we made a ten-minute drive over to Patty's parents-in-law's home (I'll call them T and G), where Patty and her family are vacationing for a few days, and we had dinner with them. We had a wonderful time eating together, laughing our way through a game of Farkle, visiting, and gazing in amazement at some of the rooms in our hosts' home. Edwin's mother, G, can and does do anything related to fabrics and materials. She spins, weaves, knits, sews and quilts, to name a few of her talents. Looms and spinning wheels captured our attention as we wandered through the house. But equally impressive were the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining the walls of the library, the living room, and the sewing room. The books, for the most part, belong to T. He has a passion for WWII history, Russian history and Southwest history; and he has a most astounding library of books on these and other subjects. Patty tells us the books are double-shelved - in other words, what we saw was only half of his inventory of books! (If you look at Patty's blog - HERE - you can see more pictures of this warm, welcoming home.)
What a joy it was to see Patty again, to get to know Edwin and their three daughters (including a set of twins), to catch up on a little bit of their life story, and to meet Edwin's family.
Many thanks to Patty, for initiating this, and to G & T for opening their home and welcoming us around their dinner table.
Edwin and his mother, G, strategizing in our Farkle game.
Dan, Patty and me.
Edwin, Patty and their youngest daughter, who reminds me of the little Patty we knew back in Juneau.
1 comment:
You always seem to be spending precious time with the most interesting and lovable people.
Some folk just fit like old friends, even when years pass between visits. (I've got a couple of long-time buddies like that.) Comfortable,unflappable,fascinating, completely open and trusting. These special individuals refresh the soul. I'm glad you two had this opportunity to become acquainted.
I would have enjoyed being with you at "Nana G"'s table that evening, but I would have needed about four hours to brouse my way around "Papa T"s shelves. Come to think of it, I have several special and treasured books on my shelves which came from the hundreds which didn't even make it into his library. You should know that when "Papa T" recommends a book you should not hesitate to read it. I've been reading for sixty-five years; I've probably read between 12 and 15 thousand books, some of them several times, and Mr. T has never failed when guiding me to another winner.
Thanks too for the great photos.
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