Lunch with a Friend

My last weeks in Ohio are doubly busy.  Not only do I have to deal with everything that is involved with making the move, but my social calendar is filled with get-togethers with friends to say good-bye before heading south of the border.

On Monday, for example, I got out of the house while the liquidators were taking inventory and met my friend Joyce for lunch at a local restaurant.  I have known Joyce for more years than we can remember.  She is also a retired Spanish teacher, but we taught in different school districts.  We met while taking some summer teacher workshops.  After she retired, she and her husband Dave spent many winters renting a condo in the town of Chicxulub on the gulf coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.  When I would visit Mérida, the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, we would always get together.  In fact, if you have been reading my blog for a long time and if you have a very good memory, you might remember them from entries that were posted here years ago.  

    A "selfie" which Joyce took of us at the restaurant

Our lunch date almost didn't happen.  We were supposed to meet at 1:30.  I arrived about fifteen minutes early, so I waited for her outside the restaurant.  What I didn't know was that she had arrived even earlier and had gone inside and was seated at a table.  By about 1:45, I was beginning to think that something had happened since Joyce is always very punctual.  Meanwhile, Joyce was thinking the same thing.  Thank goodness, she came outside and found me.  

We had not seen each other for a couple of years, so we had a leisurely lunch catching up on everything that had been going on in our lives.  We said our good-byes and promised to keep in touch after I have made the move.

Later today, I have another lunch date with another dear friend from my teaching days and a couple more get-togethers the following week.