Friday with New Friends

As previously noted, a new organization, PEO, has been joined by this Old Woman.  A few days ago a text came through inviting me to meet at a nearby restaurant for breakfast.  The request came from Tricia who is the president of the chapter to which I belong.  She had a packet of information for me.  Another of the members, Jo, would be joining us.

With the pandemic keeping so many people confined, there has not been an opportunity to become acquainted with much of anyone in PEO.  This organization seemed a way to have a built-in opportunity to meet some new folks.  The membership committee had asked me about myself which I shared freely.  There had not been time to learn about these ladies' backgrounds.  

One lady, Jo, had lived in numerous states.  She grew up in Pennsylvania.  Was a dental tech for a while then stopped to be a stay-at-home mom.  Eventually, once the kids had left the nest, she started working as a sales clerk for a small store.  That led to being a personal shopper.  "That was so much fun," she said.  What can be better than to be in a job that is fun?  

Tricia was a stay-at-home mom with an at-home business.  She became a portfolio manager for her MIL as the children moved into adulthood.  Her husband took early retirement.  He started an auto repair and restoration business.  Tricia became the financial officer of the business.  Again, she is working from home.

I shared a bit more of things from my life.  The fact that Hubby's uncles passed about 20 minutes apart left Tricia agast.  She said she had never heard of such a thing happening.  Yes, it was very unusual.  Uncle Trecil not feeling well and needing to go to the doctor.  Carl, my FIL, left to go to the homeplace to take Trecil to the doctor.  While he was en route, Uncle Willis called my MIL to say it did not look like Trecil was breathing.  There was a gasp and MIL could not get Uncle Willis to answer.  MIL used FIL's ham radio to get ahold of another ham operator.  That operator contacted FIL to warn him there was a problem.  Carl found his older brothers had both passed.  Uncle Willis still had the phone receiver clasped in his hand.

The more of the story I recounted, the wider Tricia's eyes opened.  When I told her the funeral home was concerned about who would dig the graves for the brothers.  Seems they dug most of the graves for the community.  The area of the country where they lived was known as the Adcock hills.  The farm they had lived on had been in the family for more than a century.  Tricia told me she thought I should write all these stories into some sort of book.  How many times have I heard that suggestion over the years?

Old friends know the stories.  Many of them lived the stories alongside me.  Now the new friends will be amazed by all the various stories that have happened around my life.  They will giggle, they may even cry at some of the stories.  Probably a few will not believe they actually happened.  Some days it is hard for me to believe myself.  

Gosh, it was pleasant to just sit, visit, and get to know some ladies down here.  I look forward to more opportunities.

Take care,

Janice