Christmas Eve Ten Years Ago . . .

 

Merry Christmas!  (Photo from December 2013)

I heard Dave’s voice for the first time on Christmas Eve 2004.  It was also the first and only Christmas my cousin Karen and I shared; she was with me in my Brenham home for the holiday and was there when Dave called.

Snow was in the Texas forecast that evening, and Karen and I planned to stay up and greet it . . . and watch a James Bond marathon on TV.  Sean Connery, ya know.  Plus, we had kazoos for heralding Christmas carols.  We were up until the wee hours of Christmas morning.  What a fun, cozy and special Christmas Eve that was.

I’m so grateful for those vivid memories that still linger . . . . hearing Dave’s voice, going back to the den from my home office singing out “I got a phone call from Scot-land!  I got a phone call from Scot-land!”  Karen asking, “How was it?” and my reply of, “I didn’t understand a word he said, but it was wonderful!”  It was my first exposure to a Scottish brogue and I think Dave might have been a wee bit nervous (I certainly was), so he was talking fast.  Hahaha!  I did catch a word here and there, of course, and with more phone calls over time I became comfortable  with the Scottish way of speaking.  It  snowed all over Texas that night, including the beach at Galveston, but not Brenham.  The next morning Karen put water in the coffeemaker but no coffee and ended up with a nice cup of hot water . . . we laughed so much we were in tears.  We would crack up at the smallest, the silliest, things.  Gosh, we had so much fun together.

Ten years.  Really?  It feels just like yesterday.

Karen has left this world, but Dave is here with me, and we have had ten years of sharing a good life together.  We have had some amazing experiences on both sides of the Atlantic, some trying times and, most of all, love and respect for one another.  It certainly is grand sharing Life with one’s best friend.

He certainly is my best friend, even if he did beat me at chess tonight.  Ha! 

It has been raining nonstop (except for a few brief interludes) since Monday.  Ugh.  The office building has a few roof leaks, so yesterday and today Dave has been emptying buckets to keep abreast of that.  That’s a bit above and beyond our job description, but one does what one needs to do.  Hopefully the rains have ended . . . until Sunday when it starts up again.  Continuous rain and highs near 70 F . . . I tell ya, I’m missing the cold and snow right about now.  Crazy, eh?

That being said, it is a magical time of year and we’re so enjoying our evenings together matching wits over the chessboard in our cozy RV home that we share with wee Maggie.

Here’s wishing you a peaceful and safe Christmas filled with love, laughter and fellowship.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by!