Ever had a day so wonderful you wished you had video taped the whole afternoon so you could relive the day over and over again. I had one of those special afternoons today. I’ll always be grateful for the memory of this visit with my mother’s dearest friend. She texted me on my phone and asked me it today was a good day for me to come and visit. I had been working in the yard but quickly told her yes. I was excited to go. I hopped in the shower, put on a bra, dolled up, and happily headed to her house.

She met me at the top of the stairs in her home, her 95 year old self, dressed stylishly, makeup flawless, living in her home happily by herself, using her walker to be careful getting around. Honestly, she looks younger than her children, looks younger than me! She and her husband were my mama and daddy’s dearest friends and enjoyed a couples’s friendship for many, many years. They traveled to University of Alabama football bowl games and enjoyed their memberships together in several clubs.

Had to be fun as a couple, when you were best friends and your husband were best friends, too! My daddy died in 1979 and broke up the couple’s friendship but my mother and she kept their close friendship intact till the end of my mother’s life. Their three children were such a pivotal part of my childhood. All of my memories of my school years are full of my close friendship with their oldest son. So many, many memories with their family for my whole family.

I brought us a tea party. Took everything. A mason jar of zinnias from my garden, my favorite antique dessert plates, tiny cocktail napkins, Waterford tea glasses, coasters, dessert forks, two slices of key lime pie, ice for the sweet tea, mint sprigs. I brought the mint sprigs but left the sweet tea at home. I offered to go back and get it but she said, “We’ll just drink water in the Waterford glasses.” I had even brought a bottle of water in case she didn’t drink sweet tea. I wanted to do everything, to treat her, so she could just enjoy visiting with me.

I told her I had brought her a big piece of pie so she could cut it in half and have some for tomorrow. She quickly laughed and said, “No, I’m going to eat all mine right now!” We sat on the bar stools at her kitchen island and ate our pie and talked and laughed about our lives, our children and grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, and our husbands, who we love and miss. We talked about being technology challenged and how it aggravates our sons when we ask for help with our cell phones and she wanted to know about Shady Oaks in case Stew really sent me there. I got a good laugh about that question.

We have a closeness that comes from losing a child. We both belong to the club no one wants to join. Her middle son died several years after my daughter and I understood the trauma and pain of burying a child. I hope somehow through our conversations and my letters, I helped her in a small way with her grief. She lost a husband she was devoted to after 65 years of marriage. I know she misses him. I only had 40 years with Chief and I’m still grieving for him three years after his death.

After our tea party we went into her living room and sat and continued our conversations. She wanted me to bring the mason jar of zinnias into her living room. I sat the jar of blooms on her glass coffee table and laughed at how out of place a mason jar was in her beautifully decorated living room. She just laughed and said the colors matched perfectly.

I shed a few tears talking about Rosie and Chief and my parents. Ever time I spend time with her I feel like a tiny bit of my mama and daddy are with us. We had a lively conversation and when I glanced at my watch for the first time I realized four hours had passed in one quick moment. She’s a beautiful soul with the grace and wisdom that comes with age. I love her and I know she feels the same way.

It was a glorious visit that I won’t soon forget. Friendships are such a wonderful part of living and bring such happiness and joy into our lives. Conversations with someone who really knows you and thoughtfully listens to what you say is a gift we should appreciate and be thankful for. True friends bring us emotional support and make us feel loved and connected with one another.

After I got home from her house I saw a glorious sunset. The sky was painted the colors of a basket of ripe peaches, highlighted by the dark black silhouettes of the oak trees and houses on the horizon. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom,” — Marcel Proust