Bull Frog's song

Wednesday night I visited you. The sun settled in for its evening slumber.
It was a beautiful sunset and reminded me of the many nights spent in your company.
Friends and family all around. Always smiling. Always singing. Always dancing. Always laughing.
The whistle of the brew sang a song and my gurgling sips seemed to be the chorus.
A bull frog joined in.
Darkness fell all around me but I know you stayed. Stayed to share time, stayed to share stories, and you let me cry as I told you I missed you.

Wednesday night I visited you. The field was green, the air was warm and the breeze was cool. There was silence and it was then I knew again you were gone.

E-mail to a friend

Happy Birthday Fenton!
Shit, I cannot believe you are 48! Yes, I know your ass still looks good.
(Doin a little shake)
No, I can't believe I've known you now for 13 years.
Ha ha ha, OMG, the party at your house for the UK NCAA tournament was so fun.
Sheesh. . . what else can you say about that night but "I woooooonnnn, I wooooon"
There should never be that much tequila consumed in a single night. . . EVER again!!!
By the way, thanks for retrieving my earring.
Wasn't that Marsha's birthday? I think so, she had some type of crown on her head all night. Unless that was a pre-party prize!!! ha ha ha
Maddie was soooooooo little. Poor kid didn't know what she was in for, having you guys for parents! She's so big now. When I call the house I'm not sure who I enjoy talking to more, Marsha or Maddie!!! Chase could care less of course!
For your birthday I bought you your very own pair of black lace thong undies. Catch is that I get to hide them randomly, ANYWHERE in the house so Marsha can find them and chew your ass! Ha! Good lord, somehow (your wife!) that story came up at your house after we'd said good-bye to you. I'm not sure your MOM found the humor in it. But the rest of us had yet ANOTHER big laugh over it.
OH MY, I miss you.
Christy and I had dinner Saturday night and talked about you for so long. The stories somehow just kept spilling out! Imagine any of us. . . telling stories!!!
I told her about Culpepper and the pool, Randy and the coozies! Poor Danny! He was all flustered. She told me about you two getting schnockered at the airport and almost missing your flight! I told her about climbing on your kitchen counter to take aerial shots of the group tequila shots. Of course the "How I met Dave" over a bottle of Maker's story. And then I heard something from Christy about "off site meetings"??? Did we have those at Ashland??? OH NOOOOOOOOO!!! We called THAT "comp time". F'ers! ha ha ha
Good times man, good good times.
One day - we're gonna make some more memories! You can count on that.
In the meantime, we are keeping shit under control for you!
Don't get me wrong, it ain't the same without ya but we do what we can.
Although, I refuse to drink your nasty ass old Bud Light!
How 'bout some Old Speckled Hen tonight?
Yea, I didn't think you'd mind!

How sweet it was!

It’s no surprise that I skipped out of work a little early. First things first!
Off to my boys at Midas for a little oil change, tire balance and rotation.
I had an hour . . . tap tap tap . . . what to do . . . what to do???
Marrikas! Perfect! The first vacation beer is always the tastiest!

Then there was the birthday party at Furlongs! More tasty beverages and a wonderful dinner with dear friends! I was definitely off to a good start!
10:30pm the car was FINALLY packed and I was ready for a disco nap!
A disco nap indeed it would be. I was so excited I didn’t fall asleep until almost 1:00am.
Never fear, my internal alarm went off at 3:20 am, 25 minutes before the real alarm was set to wake me.
Up and showered, “Puppy! Are you ready to go on VACATION!!!???” Wagging his tail WILDLY (as if he knew what I had said) he zoomed to the door. One last stop by my apartment (cause you know I forgot some shit) we hit I-75 SOUTH promptly at 5:00 am.

It was a beautiful, sunny, blue skied drive.

Etta (the Jetta), BJ (the puppy) and I rolled into the parking lot at 2:00 pm.
BJ and I tilted our heads to the sky and took a deep breath of ocean air.
We were finally there!!!

I’d love to have tales of debauchery but that isn’t what this trip was about.
I needed this vacation, this rest, this time for rejuvenation.
Everyday was as follows.
Up around 6:30 – Puppies are ready for their morning outing to "water" the plants!
Shorts, t-shirt, tenny-shoes – Stephanie is ready for her morning walk.
Down the beach – shoes ON!
Up the beach – shoes OFF!

Breakfast - Dad and I cooked eggs, BACON and toast while Mom hooked us up with an awesome pot of coffee!
By noon it was time to pull on the ole swimsuit and hit the beach.


When I had sufficiently cooked for the day I returned inside for a shower. It was time for dinner!
I remembered how special it is to have family meals . . . every night!

Back to the condo for a movie and then off to bed.
It was . . . perfect.

I did meet four WONDERFUL women who were also staying at the condos!
Some days on the beach were spent with them; chatting, laughing, telling stories and just being in good company. They live close enough to visit (it is such a small world).
I have no doubt that I will see them again.
They made my days much more fun. Ladies – THANK YOU!

Returning home is usually a dreaded thing but not this time!
I was rested, relaxed, rejuvenated AND returning home to see my dear friend.
It had been a year. I knew one day wasn’t going to be enough time to spend in his company but it was all that would be allowed. There were lots of hugs, lots of laughs and the most was made of the time we had. I do love you, dear Timothy! YOU make my soul sparkle!


It is now Friday, almost a full week since I returned home and not even work has been able to damper my mood. My week has flown by! It has been jam packed with friends: old and new! The weekend is predicted to be more of the same minus having to go to work, which makes it even better!

I am reminded over and over that I am blessed with the most amazing friends in the world.
They absolutely fill my life with joys that make my chest swell with love!
Man oh man; I am truly blessed with you all.

With all my might I shall hold onto this peacefulness for as long as possible.