Read "We are our Mothers' Daughters" by Cokie Roberts

It's a compilation of great stories about women who have made a difference and pathed the road for the lives we live today. Her Chapter on "Friends" is particularly special as I just spent five days with friends from long ago and relatively new friends.

Just a couple of quotes that caught my imagination. "We were part of the grouop of kids who ran the student government, acted in the plays, organized the events . . . . Little did we know then that the friendships formed from those silly pastimes, the countless hours on the telephone, the sleepovers where no one slept, would in later years bring us back together through happy times and sad--through marriages and births and deaths, runaway kids and runaway husbands." All of us who have those friends are so blessed. Two of them flew all the way to Seattle for my stepson's wedding. And, it was as if no time had passed. Two other friends could not come for personal reasons and we missed them.

And three other friends also made the trip with their husbands. We all joined together as if we'd known each other forever. Another thought from Cokie is that we sometimes get so busy with mundane tasks and trivia that we don't take time to enjoy each other. The wedding provided time out to do that. She again points out that girlfriend lunches are "food for the soul." My soul was enriched this week. They made me take a time out to relax. They took over little tasks that I hadn't finished. I cherish my friends.

Go West, Robinsons, Go West

We've begun the trek to WA state to Joe's oldest son's wedding. We've got a van packed to the gills, one dog ( a lap dog Labrador), and two geezers as our daughter is wont to say. I have to remind her that 50 is the new 30 and geezers don't start until the mid-eighties. And when I'm 80, it'll move. We're sailing through seven states. On the first day, we traveled 8 hours and were still in TX. When you look at an Atlas, TX is not to scale of the other states. We took refuge from a hail storm under the entry way to a nursing home. I'm a big off-the-freeway sort of person and we were on some less traveled roads. The wind generators that dot the landscape are wonderful to watch, rather like large herons. My observation is that the further north and west we go, the higher the gas prices and the lower the octane. Why do gas prices go up during the summer? I cannot believe it doesn't have something to do with gouging, but what do I know. More observations to come.

She just can't be 21!!!

Joe, Maggie and I flew to Las Vegas to celebrate her 21st birthday. Where did all those years go? I remember other birthday parties - sweet sixteen,etc. But 21? Hmmm. At any rate, we met Nancy and Bruce Oyen and began the celebration going to "O," which ended after the enchanted hour. And, we took in "Jersey Boys" as well. What a delight to see this beautiful young woman emerge. There were times I thought it would never come. But, it has, and she is the delight of my life. We told her that the advantage of celebrating her 21st birthday with her parents and their friends was that she would remember it. Tee hee. She does and so do we.