Time With Toni,.... A Special Friend

Today for Wednesdays Walk Down Memory Lane I am sharing some memories of times spent with my special friend Toni and her husband Max, who used to live here in town, but moved to Arizona 20 years ago. We have all been friends for 30 years. Toni is in town right now visiting and we got to spend some time together on Tuesday.

So I am sharing some pictures and memories from the past and a story of our day out together on Tuesday. If you would like to join in today's memory walk just click on the button below.

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John and I and Max and Toni on vacation in Branson Missouri




This is the resort we stayed at. When we came back from dinner and a show our building was on fire at the top of this cupola. We were on the ground floor but they wouldn't let us back into our rooms until the wee hours of the morning when they were sure it was safe.

Toni and I standing in front of a picture of Lawrence Welk
Max and Toni,... we were at Lamberts, (the house of "throwed rolls")

Toni and I inside our condo

Toni and I when we got to meet the Lennon Sisters

Morning coffee together before a day of play!

Larry Gatlin, and the Gatlin Brothers, and the Lennon Sisters on stage in Branson


On Tuesday I spent the day with my special friend Toni. She used to live here in our town, but 20 years ago she moved away to Arizona. Over the years she has come back this way many times to visit her sister, and brother-in-law who still live in our town, and also her mom, before she passed away. This has made it possible for us to keep our friendship going and growing throughout the years, because we always have kept in touch.

We have gone to Arizona a couple of times to stay with them and we even got to go to Sedona for a few days, and it was so beautiful there. We go in the winter time when it is freezing cold here and they are having 70 and 80 degree days there! It is a nice change from the ice storms of Kansas.

Special friendships take cultivation and care. Toni is a very caring person and before the days of email she would call me, send cards, and lettters too, to let me know what was going on with her, and her husband, and their two daughters. And I would do the same. And, since our family has been friends since 1979 she feels more like an aunt to my kids, and me to hers. Our husbands are buddies too, so this makes it nice.

When we first met each other, our husbands both worked for the same company, and we would all go to company parties and socials together. We shared dinners at each other's homes and often played dominos, board games, and cards together.

We have shared special times like our daughter's weddings, and shared excitement over grandbabies. There is quite a difference there though, since I have been a grandma for 18 years, and I have had 14 grandkids, and she just became a grandma for the first time about a year and a half ago. Now she knows why I thought being a grandma was so wonderful all of these years, because she now has a little guy that is the light of her life! He calls her Tutu, isn't that cute?

Over lunch she showed me some new pictures of her "little man", and he is really growing up since I saw him last. Babies sure don't stay babies very long do they? There was one picture of Tutu reading him a book, and it was so sweet. It brought back memories of all the special moments like that when I have read to my grandkids. Like I said, my oldest grandson is 18 now, so it has been a long time since I have read a book to him! (:>) But he used to have a favorite book at grandma's house that I would read over and over again.

After lunch we drove around town so Toni could see how things are changing in her home town. Then we went through some model homes. (I love to look in model homes!) Toni and her husband want to move back here one day if they can talk their kids into moving out here too, so I thought it might be fun to just show her what kinds of houses they are building in our area now.

After the house tour we went to a movie. It was fun just to be there with my special friend. Girlfriends who feel like sisters,...that's what we are. ((smile))

We two couples take vacations together. We have been to Branson, Missouri a couple of times, and we like to go to the music shows. One year at Christmas time we went to see Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers who were doing a show with the Lennon Sisters. After the show we got to meet the Lennon sisters and we got their autographs. This was a special treat for us girls because we grew up watching Lawrence Welk and they were on his show. A lot of younger people wouldn't know who they are, but us old gals were excited!

Last fall we went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee together for about a week and we saw some good music shows, and a lot of beautiful scenery. And then we went on to North Carolina and toured the Biltmore Estates. I had always wanted to go there, and it was even more than I had imagined. We were just a little too early for the fall foliage to be very vivid, but it was beautiful there just the same.

This fall we are meeting Toni and her husband Max in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We always have fun no matter what we decide to do. None of us are as young as we used to be, so we move a little slower, but we are still able to enjoy each other and that is a blessing. Last year Toni had heart surgery and I am so glad that she came through it and is doing well. All my prayers for her were answered.

I thank God for Toni. She is a very special friend. I just thought I would share her with you today. She goes home on Sunday, so we hope to see each other again on Friday. We talk about anything and everything when we are together, and it doesn't matter that we have lived so far apart for 20 years. Very few friendships last for a lifetime, but ours is going the distance!

Linda ~~~May 2009