My friends Bob and Linda are in town for the week. Bob is one of my oldest friends and a charter member of our imaginary rock group, The Frazier Thomas Band. Linda, Bob’s wife, who was Lee’s best friend, has become one of my best friends.
Linda’s birthday was Tuesday. Bob and Linda planned to celebrate the occasion with a fine dinner at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab. They asked if I wanted to join them for dinner. They also asked whether I planned to bring Robyn, who in relative short time has gone from merely being the woman whom I am currently dating to steady girlfriend.
I initially tell Bob that I do not wish to intrude on Linda’s special night, then think better of it, relent, and not only end up inviting myself, but also Robyn. This will be the first time Robyn would be introduced to any of my core friends. (She already has met my friend Mont, who lives upstairs from me, but such meeting was inevitable and unavoidable.)
Understandably, Robyn had told me that she would not feel comfortable meeting my closest friends all at once in a group setting. In addition, she knows that my closest friends were close friends with Lee. Also, I also might have expressed to her my opinion that a couple of my closest friends can be a tad judgmental about things such as one’s formal education or chosen vocation. Robyn has nothing to defend regarding such things, of course, but it nonetheless is understandable to me that she does not wish to be put under a microscope as it were, as if she were attending an interview or audition.
Even though Robyn would only be meeting Bob and Linda this night, I could sense some slight trepidation on her part. Perfectly understandable, I thought to myself. Then, naturally, the evening could not have gone better. From what I espied during our meal, Linda and Robyn clicked and were getting along famously. The meal itself was scrumptious, the service superb. Bob got the stone crabs he had been looking forward to, while the rest of us opted for various delicious combinations of surf and turf. We had multiple cocktails. We shared appetizers and desserts. We even managed to get to the safety of our respective vehicles and depart the scene just ahead of a hellacious thunderstorm with strong, gusting winds and lightening that temporarily knocked out power in several places.
The following day I went to see Bob and Linda at their hotel, a place not too far from me that Lee had touted to them before anyone had the slightest notion of a pandemic, or that Lee was going to develop the deadly cancer that would take her life. Despite its location in the neighborhood, I only had passing familiarity with the place, which turns out to be a modern, state-of-the-art, and very high-end athletic club featuring a comfortable and exclusive boutique hotel. As I approach and enter through automated revolving lobby doors, I witness stylish and well-dressed children pouring out from a steady stream of BMWs, Mercedes and other luxury models lining up at a curb to deposit their young tennis “campers.” Inside, over coffee, Linda confirms that she not only enjoyed last night’s meal and get-together but had felt a connection to Robyn. Bob expresses his approval of Robyn as I expected he would.
Later, there is a group dinner for Bob and Linda that is attended by many of the core friends. Robyn is not there, however. Afterwards, some of the folks return to my house, including Bob and Linda. Alone, Linda goes out to the yard where I find her picking a selection of colorful purple, rose, red and yellow flowers from among the many growing in gardens that Lee had designed and tended with thought and great care. As I have mentioned throughout these weekly posts, Lee was a dedicated and masterful gardener.
Next, I follow Linda into my basement where she dries, presses, and prepares her flower selections for eventual mounting and framing with tools consisting of a microwave oven, paper towels and a couple of casserole dishes. She explains to me that one cannot use white flowers because the heating process makes them appear brown and dirty. Linda tells me this is her way of bringing a piece of Lee back with her when she and Bob return home in a couple of days. She has tears in her eyes as she says this to me.
Finally, Linda admits the biggest surprise from last night’s meal was observing me interact with Robyn. She admits it had never occurred to her before observing it for herself that I might have discovered a woman with whom I share a strong and mutual emotional connection. Linda says she is happy for me. Her words make me glad because Linda is a friend.
