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| Reunited 17 Years After Graduation |
May 17th marked 17 years since my graduation from Davidson. I don't think a year goes by that I don't get to see at least one friend from Davidson--and this year I got to see Patrick for the first time since graduation!
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| Out for Ice Cream |
I also got to meet his wife, Erin, whom I have been texting with and keeping up with on Goodreads for quite some time now. So, it was wonderful to meet finally meet her in person.
Mom and Kiernan made sure we had a fantastic meal to enjoy together.
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| Chef Kierny Gets Some Cuddles From The Kids |
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| Tomato Cucumber Salad |
We had a locally sourced meal of tomato cucumber salad, quinoa asparagus salad, a frittata, and strawberries. I feel badly that I did not get a pic of Kiernan's tasty frittata!
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| Local Strawberries! |
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| Delicious Quinoa Asparagus Salad |
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| Cute Couple! |
After lunch, we took Patrick and Erin on a short tour of town, a trip to the arboretum, and to get ice cream at everyone's favorite place.
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| Oh! Another Cute Couple! |
Patrick and I have been friends since our freshman year at Davidson, and he is one of the few male friends I have. I'm always grateful for his perspective and encouragement. He's been loyal, faithful and supportive throughout my illness in ways that have deeply moved me. At Davidson, he was one of the few men I allowed to be close to me.
We both talked about how our experiences at Davidson were difficult in some ways because we were in the minority politically, socially and religiously, but that we cannot imagine trading the education we received or the friends we gained.
Patrick is one of those friends.
And Erin is now too. I'm grateful to have met her and to call her my friend now as well.
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| The Gang's All Here |
It was amazing to be able to spend almost FIVE hours together--eating, talking, going for a StRoll around the arboretum, going out for ice cream.
Patrick and I topped off our day by texting while watching the Warriors game that evening. :)
Patrick asked me how I would feel after the visit. I said I would be tired, but I would be okay. And I am okay. I could thoroughly enjoy the visit and pay only a very small price afterwards. To put this in perspective, even six months ago I would have been reclining after lunch, we wouldn't have gone out afterwards, and I would have been sick all evening and very tired the next day.
The best way I have to quantify this is on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst symptoms. In years past, I have had to pay in 10s to have visitors, even for short periods of time. I would need extra pain meds, extra sleep meds, anti-nausea meds and more to get rest and control symptoms. Now, my visits are longer, I'm sitting upright, I'm fully enjoying and I might pay with a 3 or 4 in symptoms after the visit is over. And maybe I just need a little extra Klonopin or a little Ambien to calm my ANS down a bit for sleep.
This makes having visitors so much more joyful. I often wonder how I ever survived day after day with my symptoms at a level 10.
But I did. And here I am now. Here I am now, enjoying my company to the fullest.
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| Friends. Always. Obligatory Pic On the Infamous Sofa! :) |
Thank you, Patrick and Erin, for making the trip to see me, for spending so much time with us, for your generosity, kindness, compassion and friendship over the years. Being together was beyond wonderful--it was so uplifting for the soul to talk in person and hug you both!
May we never ever go 17 years without seeing each other!
Blessings and Love,
Emily
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