"A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This weekend my very good friend, Katherine, and her family came to visit us. They are a foreign service family and at the moment are living in Mongolia. Every year they come to United States to visit family and have a vacation. Their family lives in Southern California, and this year we just happen to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so they made a detour in order to see us. What a pleasure it was to see all of them, but especially my sweet friend, Katherine. We knew each other in Virginia. As soon as we moved there, over six years ago, Katherine and Charles became our friends. We just clicked. Since then, we've had lunches and dinners together, we've been in outings and book clubs, and we've been there for each other. Katherine is one of those friends that I can share all my thoughts, complaints, ideas, without being judged. And because both of them, Katherine and Charles, had traveled and seen the world and met people of different cultures, I felt quite comfortable and I knew my thoughts and actions wouldn't be misunderstood, but actually appreciated for their sincerity. My fondest memories with Katherine have to do with our lunches and book clubs. We would eat lunch together very often. We usually would eat at my house with her bringing yummy food for both of us. Our younger children, who weren't at school at that time, would play together very well, and Katherine and I would talk and share everything that was in our minds for hours. Time went so fast that honestly every time we would be surprised how fast the time had past. The book club story is a funny one. We would go to book club together taking turns driving. When the book club was over, we would stay for another or two hours in the car having our own mini book club. Of course, the conversation would digress on various other subjects. What fun to have a good friend like Katherine.
They ate and visited with us on Friday, and then came today with us to church and spent the rest of the day with us. We all had a great time talking and reminiscing and making plans for future visits. Meanwhile, the children had a blast visiting with each other and playing nonstop, except when it was time for cake. Wonderful weekend with wonderful people. I love you Katherine. Thank you for coming and visiting us. We can't wait till next time.


"What is a friend? A single soul in two bodies."
- Aristotle