Do You Know Brenda?
Today's post is for a good friend, who for the past 17+ years has always
been there for my family. She knows who she is and if she is reading
this at work everyone else probably will to when they hear her talking
out loud to her computer, which is probably not a good thing to be
doing when you work in a medical building. (ixnay on the alkingtay to the computer)
Although I have only been knowing her for the last 17 years, my wife
has had the privilege of growing up with her and they have been best
friends for most of their lives. I envy them sometimes the way they
have managed to stay so close over the years, even when their paths
seemed to go in different directions, when they reconnected, it was as
if they had never parted.
As I look back over the years there are a lot of faces that pop in and
out, but she has been there consistently through the good and the bad,
fortunately we have had more good than bad.
For those that know me well, you are probably aware that years ago I was struck by a car, ran over and left for dead at the side of the road. It took
a lot of hard work for me to recover. During that period it was a
challenge to not be depressed and feel sorry for myself. What you
(and this friend) probably don't know is that she treated my wife and I
to one of the best nights of my life, that ultimately gave me a boost and helped speed up my recovery.
It wasn't a fancy dinner or a night on the town...it was a late night
invite to a friendly game of badminton. Through one of her many
connections (she's got people) she managed to get us access to the gym
at the junior high school. Initially I went along to do something
different with the wife so I had no expectations one way or the other,
but I have to tell you that I had never had so much fun before in my
life. I had so much fun, even now I can't help but smile thinking
about how I was adding sound effects every time I returned a serve. It
was the most exercise I had engaged in since the accident.
I had so much fun that night that the wife and I ended up purchasing a
badminton set shortly afterwards and I am sure that we used to keep the neighbors on
the military base entertained with our weekly grudge matches. I truly
believe the exercise contributed to an even faster recovery...it
definitely helped keep me from being depressed.
We have since been on many adventures with this friend, like our trips
to Stinson Beach and Lake Tahoe, and my children wont let us forget
about their sophisticated mornings with her complete with their own
little cups of coffee or the Pokeno games and eggnog shots (non-alcohol of course). I'm
still trying to repair my videotape that actually managed to capture a
few of our summer trips together when all of our children were still
small.
Even after we moved and bought our first house in Missouri, she flew
from California and braved the cold weather, to spend the holiday with
us, and it was my pleasure to keep her up way past her bedtime telling
her and my wife stories making them laugh until their sides hurt.
So what does all this have to do with Brenda? No that is not her
name...it is however the name of some lady who we didn't quite meet on
one of our adventures with this friend. Let me explain...
The three of us were sitting in the car talking. We were picking up
her daughter from a friends house. While waiting, we were just sitting
and chatting enjoying each other's company. While we were trying to
talk to each other we couldn't help but overhear someone talking very
loud, which was odd because there was no one near us. We discovered
the loud voice coming from several houses away. There was a woman
sitting in a new truck talking to several people.
This woman was talking sooooo loud we weren't trying but we could hear
everything word she said. We knew where, when and why she got her new
truck and even how much she paid for it. For several minutes this
woman went on and on. Finally having ran out of things to tell she
began to pull away from the curb. The group of people she was talking
with all waved and said "Bye Brenda!"
From the backseat I could see "Brenda" driving in our direction, and
just as her truck was passing us, our friend said "Bye Brenda!"
prompting Brenda to come to a stop and then proceed to back up her
truck. I take it that one of the benefits of being friends for such a
long time is the ability to communicate telepathically (either that or
perhaps they have done this type of thing before) because before I knew
it both my wife and friend we down on the floor of the car, leaving me
to appear to be the only person in the car.
By now Brenda had backed up her truck and was leaning out of the window
trying to see into the car. "who Dat Know Brenda in there? she asked.
I pretended not to hear her and remained looking forward hoping that
she had vision like a T-rex, and that if I remained perfectly still she
would not see me and would then move on. "Is that somebody Brenda know
in there?" "Brenda heard somebody call her name!" She kept trying but
I was not moving nor responding, I just sat not moving doing my best
crash test dummy impersonation.
The entire time my wife and friend were down on the floor snickering as
they watched the show. Brenda was either a little bit slow or was
excited at the thought of someone knowing her, because she sat there
inquiring for several minutes...and I will never forget how our friend
just casually popped back up into her seat as is she had been
teleported there, but even more so she pulled a jedi mind trick on
Brenda and convinced her that she must have been hearing things.
Of course on the way home there was comedy at my expense as they
laughed at me and my pretending not to be there, I had to laugh along
myself but now I know better so I stay prepared when I am in the car
with those two.
So this one is for you "Friend", my small way of saying thanks. Thanks for all of the fun adventures, thanks for my list of "firsts" First home made enchiladas...First trip to Stinson Beach...First Late night Badminton Game...First trip to the "Big Slide Park" to name a few. Thanks for the early morning cups of coffee and conversations and thanks for the "tough love" when I needed it. Thanks for treating my children as if they were your own...thanks for being there when we needed you..but most of all thanks for being there for my wife all these years...you should see her eyes light up as she talks fondly of how you looked out for her and kept her on the straight and narrow...I am blessed to enjoy her as the fine woman she has become and you were instrumental in that, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
So again Ta-Ta, Thanks for being such a good friend, and if you see Brenda...tell her I said hello. :)
been there for my family. She knows who she is and if she is reading
this at work everyone else probably will to when they hear her talking
out loud to her computer, which is probably not a good thing to be
doing when you work in a medical building. (ixnay on the alkingtay to the computer)
Although I have only been knowing her for the last 17 years, my wife
has had the privilege of growing up with her and they have been best
friends for most of their lives. I envy them sometimes the way they
have managed to stay so close over the years, even when their paths
seemed to go in different directions, when they reconnected, it was as
if they had never parted.
As I look back over the years there are a lot of faces that pop in and
out, but she has been there consistently through the good and the bad,
fortunately we have had more good than bad.
For those that know me well, you are probably aware that years ago I was struck by a car, ran over and left for dead at the side of the road. It took
a lot of hard work for me to recover. During that period it was a
challenge to not be depressed and feel sorry for myself. What you
(and this friend) probably don't know is that she treated my wife and I
to one of the best nights of my life, that ultimately gave me a boost and helped speed up my recovery.
It wasn't a fancy dinner or a night on the town...it was a late night
invite to a friendly game of badminton. Through one of her many
connections (she's got people) she managed to get us access to the gym
at the junior high school. Initially I went along to do something
different with the wife so I had no expectations one way or the other,
but I have to tell you that I had never had so much fun before in my
life. I had so much fun, even now I can't help but smile thinking
about how I was adding sound effects every time I returned a serve. It
was the most exercise I had engaged in since the accident.
I had so much fun that night that the wife and I ended up purchasing a
badminton set shortly afterwards and I am sure that we used to keep the neighbors on
the military base entertained with our weekly grudge matches. I truly
believe the exercise contributed to an even faster recovery...it
definitely helped keep me from being depressed.
We have since been on many adventures with this friend, like our trips
to Stinson Beach and Lake Tahoe, and my children wont let us forget
about their sophisticated mornings with her complete with their own
little cups of coffee or the Pokeno games and eggnog shots (non-alcohol of course). I'm
still trying to repair my videotape that actually managed to capture a
few of our summer trips together when all of our children were still
small.
Even after we moved and bought our first house in Missouri, she flew
from California and braved the cold weather, to spend the holiday with
us, and it was my pleasure to keep her up way past her bedtime telling
her and my wife stories making them laugh until their sides hurt.
So what does all this have to do with Brenda? No that is not her
name...it is however the name of some lady who we didn't quite meet on
one of our adventures with this friend. Let me explain...
The three of us were sitting in the car talking. We were picking up
her daughter from a friends house. While waiting, we were just sitting
and chatting enjoying each other's company. While we were trying to
talk to each other we couldn't help but overhear someone talking very
loud, which was odd because there was no one near us. We discovered
the loud voice coming from several houses away. There was a woman
sitting in a new truck talking to several people.
This woman was talking sooooo loud we weren't trying but we could hear
everything word she said. We knew where, when and why she got her new
truck and even how much she paid for it. For several minutes this
woman went on and on. Finally having ran out of things to tell she
began to pull away from the curb. The group of people she was talking
with all waved and said "Bye Brenda!"
From the backseat I could see "Brenda" driving in our direction, and
just as her truck was passing us, our friend said "Bye Brenda!"
prompting Brenda to come to a stop and then proceed to back up her
truck. I take it that one of the benefits of being friends for such a
long time is the ability to communicate telepathically (either that or
perhaps they have done this type of thing before) because before I knew
it both my wife and friend we down on the floor of the car, leaving me
to appear to be the only person in the car.
By now Brenda had backed up her truck and was leaning out of the window
trying to see into the car. "who Dat Know Brenda in there? she asked.
I pretended not to hear her and remained looking forward hoping that
she had vision like a T-rex, and that if I remained perfectly still she
would not see me and would then move on. "Is that somebody Brenda know
in there?" "Brenda heard somebody call her name!" She kept trying but
I was not moving nor responding, I just sat not moving doing my best
crash test dummy impersonation.
The entire time my wife and friend were down on the floor snickering as
they watched the show. Brenda was either a little bit slow or was
excited at the thought of someone knowing her, because she sat there
inquiring for several minutes...and I will never forget how our friend
just casually popped back up into her seat as is she had been
teleported there, but even more so she pulled a jedi mind trick on
Brenda and convinced her that she must have been hearing things.
Of course on the way home there was comedy at my expense as they
laughed at me and my pretending not to be there, I had to laugh along
myself but now I know better so I stay prepared when I am in the car
with those two.
So this one is for you "Friend", my small way of saying thanks. Thanks for all of the fun adventures, thanks for my list of "firsts" First home made enchiladas...First trip to Stinson Beach...First Late night Badminton Game...First trip to the "Big Slide Park" to name a few. Thanks for the early morning cups of coffee and conversations and thanks for the "tough love" when I needed it. Thanks for treating my children as if they were your own...thanks for being there when we needed you..but most of all thanks for being there for my wife all these years...you should see her eyes light up as she talks fondly of how you looked out for her and kept her on the straight and narrow...I am blessed to enjoy her as the fine woman she has become and you were instrumental in that, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
So again Ta-Ta, Thanks for being such a good friend, and if you see Brenda...tell her I said hello. :)
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