Tuesday, December 2, 2003

Last Golden Days of Childhood

This Friday is Debbies birthday.  I met Debbie in the early 70's when we both attended Murray State University in extreme Western KY.  She came from New Jersey, via Germany.  She was an army brat.  She was to be the maid of honor in a wedding.  The bride was from a small town in west KY, so it made sense not to fly back and forth from Germany, but to enroll in school near by.

I love Debbie and cherish her as the closest friend I will ever have.  We had the greatest time that year at Murray.  We were at the tail end of childhood and we behaved accordingly.  We went to the 99th running of the Derby (1973) together, along with 100 of our closest friends, then I put her on a plane and never saw her again for over 20 years.

We kept in touch.  She had my parents permanent address along with the address of my brother in Louisville.  We were good at being able to find each other when we had allowed a lot of time to elaspe.

I sent her a letter in 2000 and included my email address.  On April fools day I received an email from her!  The internet is the best for keeping in touch.

Shortly after the first emails, her husband, I'll call him Zorro, emailed me.  "Hello, you don't know me, but I am Zorro, Debbies husband.  Debbie has been working day and night to get ready for her CPA exam.  As a present and surprise to her, I'd like to fly you down here after the test! What do you say?"  A no brainer.

My daughter and I fly down the weekend after Derby.  Zorro meets us at the airport holding a sign "Kentucky chicks" and off we go to surprise Debbie.

It was so great that it brings the sting of tears to my eyes right now.  I had never met Zorro and she had never met Bridget.  When she opened the door, Bridget was standing there.  She took one look and her eyes rolled into the back of her head! She did not need an introduction realizing immediately  who she was.

Zorro made three women very happy that week.  Zorro is so wonderful  I now understand why Deb fell in love, married him and never returned to Kentucky.

Childhoods have to end sometime.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful story. Brought me to chills and a tear. Thank you for sharing. Happy Birthday to Debbie this Friday.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful story and friendship. Deb did good marrying a wonderful man like 'Zorro'. Send Deb a Happy Birthday wish from your aol-j friends!!!
Smilin Mon

Anonymous said...

Glad to see that some "old friends" reunions work out beautifully! You restored my faith in human nature...just a little bit. Lisa :-]