Bob and Dodie

There are many reasons why we make changes in our lives.  Sometimes we have to, sometimes we want to and sometimes it's a combination. I don't like change.  I like variety but not change.  When something is right, I want it to stay that way.     This summer was a hard one for me.  I've lost three great, wonderful friendships in a few short weeks and let me tell you, I don't like it. Two were to death, and this one to circumstances.

Bob and Dodie were our neighbors at the lake and we became fast friends.  They live in Chicago and Florida but spend 5 weekends each summer at a little cottage they share with family.  Everytime they came to the lake they called and every time they called we cleared the calendar and met them.  

Dodie is a quilter and we laugh that her taste and mine are at opposite extremes.  She loves modern and I love traditional.  

We talked politics and religion, and every other thing you aren't supposed to talk about in polite company because it upsets people.  We talk and learn and come away all the better for it.  They are very pro-active in their politics and keep us on our toes.  For them there is no "what difference could I possibly make?" They believe and strive.  When Trump opens his mouth I scream and throw cupcakes at the television.  They send money for the opponent's campaign.

They read, and they don't read fluff.  They travel. They've been e v e r y w h e r e.  Now, if Bob heard me say that he'd say it wasn't so, but I think it is.

This past weekend they came so Dodie, her grand daughter and I could go to the AQS show in Grand Rapids.  What I was not expecting and never saw coming was to be told this was their last weekend at the lake. They wouldn't be back.  Ever. You know that saying about being hit upside the head?  That was me.   But the decision had been made, and so it stays even if I wanted to throw myself to the ground and kick and scream and have a three year old hissy fit.

PH and I have been talking about it ever since.  Now, instead of seeing them five times a summer we will be lucky with once a year and have to work a lot harder to make that happen.  There is email and the telephone but there is nothing like sitting across a table from them and soaking them up.  I do so hate change, especially when it involves friends of the heart.