Happy Birthday, Ruty!

Happy RED HAT Day to my friend, RuthAnn! I hope your birthday is filled with lots of wonderful happenings, gifts galore, and happy moments. I wish you lived nearby so we could eat cake and sip tea together today. It's hard to believe that we met in high school as fifteen-year-olds and that we've now come to be the same age as our mother's were then! My mind has wandered down memory lane this morning, thinking of the fun times we've shared. Do you remember the bike rides with breakfast in the park? Or backpacking in the Swiss Alps of America? Hours of conversation about boyfriends and the challenges they brought to our lives? Or working on homework for Mr. Young's science classes? Some of my favorite times were when we sewed polyester dresses and vests in Mrs. Dufur's home ec class or when we'd talk on the phone for hours at a time. Do you remember? Time passed and we graduated from college and were ready to join the career world. We were going to move to the city and be roommates, but instead we each married our guys and moved in different directions. We married within two weeks of the other and shared the responsibility of being bridesmaids for one other. Thank you for coming home from your honeymoon early so you could be in my wedding. After that, we each spent quite a few years as career women before we had our families. Then came motherhood and raising our children. We are still there, but soon will enter the empty-nest stage of life. Through it all, friendship and common interest has bonded us together as forever friends. Although time and distance sometimes keep us apart for longer spaces than we'd like, it's always comforting to know that a kindred-spirit friend is always just a phone call away. Happy Birthday, friend! I wish you all the best!

Photo: Ivy Tea Room ~ our favorite!