A Surprise Visitor

Cathy.  My Godmother. Cathy. The woman who was one of my 3 mom's--she,  Kathy W. and my mom were the best of friends and would hang out together all of the time. Cathy. The woman who taught me the true use of belly buttons--to store your ketchup late at night so you can dip your french fries when you're in need of a little snack before bed!  Cathy.  The woman whom I haven't seen in 32 years, but recently came into my life and it felt like no time had passed at all.  Minus the fact that I was no longer 8 years old and I now have kids of my own, of course!  Don't you love relationships like those?  The ones that are truly everlasting!

Well this is a story and a half...

You see while my family and I were vacationing a couple of weeks ago, my mom called to inform me that Cathy called her.  Normally this isn't any big deal, except for the fact that this was the second time she'd called this year.  You see Cathy and my mom only talk once a year.  And it's always when Cathy calls my mom.  Don't ask me why my mom doesn't call her.  I don't really have an answer for that one.

Anyway out of the blue she calls my mom to chat, but in truth she was scheming.  Scheming to surprise my mom with a visit.  A visit that was 32 years in the making.  For forever, Cathy had been promising my mom that she would make it to Colorado Springs for a visit.  She did make it once.  To Denver. But it was just a drive through on her way west, and there was no time for a stopover in the Springs.

But this was the year!  Only she wanted to surprise my mom, so the purpose for the 2nd call was to sneakily get my phone number and contact me to help her with the surprise.  We had it all planned out.  We were so excited!  Unfortunately my mom analyzed the call to death, (as she does with so many things in her life) and came to the conclusion she was coming for a visit. So, naturally, she called me. And when she called, she woke me out of a deep sleep.  In my confusion, I said, "You %$#@!  How did you figure it out?"  Well, after a heated discussion, a bit of an argument, and of course some Mama guilt, she managed to get me to tell her that she was indeed coming for a surprise visit.

Now, I wasn't giving up on the whole concept of somehow surprising my mom.  And with a little last minute ingenuity, Cathy and I did manage to scare the bageebies out of her! We parked halfway down the block from her house, and with two cups of coffee in hand, Cathy entered unannounced in the house through the back door. My mom must have jumped 6 inches off the floor.

After some yelling, some laughing, and of course hugging the two were reunited at last! What a great surprise!

A true friendship that has endured over 40 years!

Thank you so much for a great visit!

By the way, Cathy, I am hopeful that you are reading this entry and will send copies of those great photos Mike took of  you and our family.  In my excitement, I completely forgot to have Craig take some, too!

Miss you bunches.  Wish we lived closer.  Love you.