Ladies Who Lunch

I recently returned from a ten day visit with my sister and her wonderful family. (You can only have that long of a visit with a sister/friend and other special people who tolerate you well.) Anyway  --it was a lovely visit in spite of a nail biting wind storm during which 70 mph winds ran amok through lovely Henrico County Virginia leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power -- some for almost week -- so far. Who knows how many garbage trucks were filled with the spoiled food from refrigerators and freezers in the Richmond area.  Many trees and vehicles have also not fared well.  We were only without electricity for 36 hours or so -- not a biggy in the grand scheme of it all.  None of the trees that were split and/or bent to the ground hit the house, and when we walked the neighborhood the following morning, we were indeed thankful to have been spared.  

Yet -- even with all this excitement, it was a lovely stay. (Point of interest -- Ice Cream that has thawed for fourteen hours in the freezer before you remember that it should be eaten is the perfect consistency.  Just saying. Very little, if any ice cream went into the garbage at my sister's house.) 

Enough on the storm part of the visit -- I just have to tell you about one particularly enjoyable afternoon of my time in Richmond -- before the storm....

Here's the thing....  I am retired.  My sister, who is a little bit older than I, is still working.  I think I now understand why she doesn't want to retire.  She and I went to meet two of her friends for lunch. Talk about a bond among people with positive attitudes -- a bond that doesn't always come with the close proximity of working together in sometimes challenging circumstances.  They work with little children and share a mutual concern for them that is most touching. They also care about each other and the people with whom they work.   And -- they laugh -- a lot.  They are delightful. They made me laugh the good kind of laugh.  You know -- the kind that comes from somewhere deep within -- the real laughter -- the healing laughter. Somehow I managed to finish lunch without choking or having ice tea come out of my nose.  I think that was a minor miracle of some sort. Maybe that comes from the fact that they teach in a church preschool. Who knows? Whatever the reason -- I am thankful.  I never want to embarrass my sister. 

Before this gathering, I thought that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens were amazing.  I had been entranced by the shopping at Stony Point, Cary Town and Short Pump.  But -- that was before I met two very special people.  I will remember the afternoon forever.  Just thinking about it makes me smile.  I like to think of them as the ladies who lunch.