those were the days... (friday flashback)

When I moved out of my mom's house, I stumbled onto a little farmhouse out in the country that the landlord was willing to rent for cheap (really, really cheap). Initially I was supposed to live there with my Aunt Patty. Anyone who knows, or who have ever heard anything about, my Aunt Patty would understand why that didn't work. Then a friend from work and her husband moved in with me. That was also a bad, bad match. Nothing wrong with those people... but just a bad, bad match. And then, on my doorstep, appeared Bev and Garry. "We're looking for a house to rent, do you know of any?" Now it would be hard for anyone who knows Bev and I now to believe, but Bev and I weren't that close then. We had been friends for a very, very long time... but by that time she had a boyfriend, I had a boyfriend... and we pretty much just hung out with our boyfriends! So to have her knock on my door was unexpected [and may I interject here... likely a God-thing]. My answer "actually, I'm looking for someone to move in here..." and I'm pretty sure her and Garry's answer was something like "ok". Maybe that's not an exact quote, but in my mind's eye... it went something like that.

And so it began. Our life of teacup and saucer decorations [remember those Bev?]... kerosene heaters [who needs real heat anyway? after all, had we been able to afford propane we would have needed a refridgerator to put our milk in during the winter!]... the red room [amazing]... stuffed bunny vacuum cleaner covers [poor bunny]... sadie, the beautiful, crazy, sweet boxer... daisy and her belly full of catfish bait... a steady stream of family and friends... young friends willing to help us wash the outside of our house in below zero weather [inside joke, I apologize to my blogerotsky]... wall paint from Big Lots... home furnishings from Goodwill... being snowed in... the fabulous Geo Metro... cows procreating in our front yard [tyson, age 4- what are they doing? becky- wrestling I think]... "good" times that i've since repented of... unusually large wrenches... stolen street signs [home decor for the poor]... cruising Knox County and stalking mailboxes [try to decipher that cryptic reference, blogerotsky]... and eventually... weddings. Yep, those were the days.

What a ride! Amazing memories! During that time we (Garry, Bev, Jim, and I) formed a bond goes literally beyond words. I can look at Bev across the room and she'll say "I know". And she does. And it's creepy. We tell people that we don't really have mind-meld... but that may be just a bit of a lie!

All those years ago, when she knocked on my door, I couldn't imagine that we would end up HERE. Going to church together. Supporting each other in new job opportunities. Raising our children together. Leaning on each other in the hard times. Laughing with each other like crazy people in the good ones... and honestly, in the bad ones too! Hanging out and doing the things that "soccer/dance/cheer/pto/church moms" do. God is good. He knows what He's doing, and even though some of "those" days were pretty crazy, I would trade a single one. Because those days led to these days... and these day are quite frankly amazing beyond imagination!

Thanks Bev. Love ya.

But you already knew that, didn't you?

[photo taken at a ball game last week]