Dearest Cyndyn,
I’ve been thinking about friendship, what a true friend is. If a true friend is someone who has been with you through decades of raising kids, adventures, fun, tears, chaos, and hilarity, then you are my truest friend. If it’s someone who listens to every word you say with interest and caring, then you are my true friend. If it’s someone who brings her exquisite mushroom soup to your home when you’ve had yet another surgery after having fallen 20 feet, you are that friend. Someone who offers to drive ten minutes out of her way to carpool the kids to preschool so that tiny classmates become lifelong friends. Someone who hosts festive Christmas Eve parties full of warmth and love, every single year! Fabulous summer barbecues in your gorgeous backyard with the lush flowers and sparkling fountain and always great food. Once you even included dear friends of mine who were visiting from out of town and they’ll never forget it. Your annual
Halloween party with all the trimmings including tortilla bats made it my absolute favorite holiday. Botanic Garden concerts with gourmet picnics... and camping with you… let’s just say you bring it to a higher level: luxurious! You know I can’t garden without feeling you by my side. An array of gifts from you keep us cozy, decorate our home, remind us of your generosity.
We share so many thousands– if not millions– of moments that they cannot possibly all be remembered– dinners at Las D’s, Locanda, our backyard. Remember when you and Randy joined us with my parents at the Blue Bonnet? A Silver Creek ski trip for Randy’s birthday. Picking out Christmas trees at City Floral. So, so many baseball games and lunch at the Red Robin or anywhere we ended up. Taking the kids to Elitch’s. Working on auctions and after-prom. You made East High into a Hogworts stage set! And how many movies did we see together- Avatar to Oh Brother! Whether in a theater or our basement, always with corn! Oysters and Oscars in your living room. Mia Farrow at the Buell. And you are in that small group, so important to me, who never missed an opening at my gallery. Painting a watercolor of your house was an honor and a favorite commission of mine. You came by to see the renovation in my Tudor condo very near your house, which has the same plaster work as yours! Visiting the Homestead and seeing what you and Randy created there for older people meant so much to me.
Max and Devon’s beautiful backyard wedding with Julian’s eloquent, heartfelt blessing– how proud, how happy were you, my dear friend?
I like to think that you and Randy could easily come up with twice as many memories of wonderful times, ranging from crazy to lovely.
I hope you know how happy I was when you and Randy drove up to see our mountain house-in-progress. You came to see it even before we started and I am so grateful we had that lunch on the rock cliff. Knowing you and Randy had built a home inspired us as we built ours.
Inspiring... that’s what you are. I miss you so much!