Old Friends, A Warm Reunion (Texas #1, Wed., June 19, 2013)

Our trip today from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Victoria, Texas, was filled with a new appreciation for Texas.  From the abundant waters of Louisiana, we entered the dry State called Texas.  My previous experience here consisted of multiple airplane trips to visit my parents in San Antonio, where they lived after their retirement in the USAA Towers until their deaths in 2002 and 2003.  I was so despondent following my father's death that, on the plane home to Lexington, I vowed to myself never to return.

Time healed sufficiently and in 2011 I attended the American Nephrology Nurses' Association convention in San Antonio. My colleague, Jill, and I played hooky one afternoon and visited my parents' gravesite in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.  Their policy is that the husband and wife are buried one coffin on top of the other in one grave with one gravestone. 'Adeline's' name with birth/death dates are on one side of the marker with 'Reuben's' information on the other side.  Although I shed some tears, this greatly helped me.  Today, I remember this.

There is one word for the state of Texas: MEGA!  Peggy and I were amazed at the ginormous size of the seemingly endless cornfields.  We calculated that you could fit all the cornfields in Kentucky into one Texas cornfield!  And the size of the silos: easily, ten or more Kentucky-size silos could fit into one Texas silo.  Here there are four to six silos standing together. This year the corn is approximately one-half the size of the corn in the few fields we passed in Florida.  Texas desperately needs rain!

 What do we expect from Texas?  We want to see a cowboy, some long-horned cows, lots of Spanish architecture, and eat authentic Mexican food.  Our first wish was granted shortly after we passed the state line: there appeared a billboard advertising cowboy boots.  Our first destination in Texas is Victoria, home of Peggy's and my friend, Dorothy.

Mother cross-stitched a needlework sampler many years ago: "Old Friends, New Friends, One is Silver, the Other Gold.  Keep the Silver, Keep the Gold."  Our friend, Dorothy, qualifies as a golden friend.  We were thrilled to see each other one year after she moved from Kentucky.  After hugs, ice-cold drinks, and a long, breezy walk around Dorothy's lovely neighborhood, the three of us chatted until late into the night.