I am glad to report that Kate had a great day yesterday. I did as well. The greatest pleasure of the day was seeing Kate enjoy herself so much. Here’s what happened.
Last week, we bumped into Marty Lang, a long-time friend whom we met soon after moving to Knoxville in 1971. He is a Methodist minister whose career has been outside a local church. He has been very active in social justice efforts as long as we have known him. His wife died about 2 years ago, and he has been seeing someone else recently. We talked about our getting together as couples. He followed that conversation up with an email inviting us to lunch.
Yesterday we had lunch with them. Kate was apprehensive about going. Although we had just seen Marty last week, I knew she could not remember him except to recognize his name. Neither of us had met his new friend. Having known Marty a long time and also aware that his friend had had a career in christian education, I felt confident that she would enjoy herself.
It turned out I was right. It was an especially good get together. When Marty met us in the restaurant, he was carrying a small potted plant with beautiful yellow flowers for Kate. When Anne joined us, we entered into the typical kind of “get-acquainted” conversation. Anne is very good at asking good questions of those she is with. She also is a good listener. Kate was quite comfortable with this kind of conversation because it involves the kinds of things that she can still remember – family, growing up, dating, etc.
We spent almost two hours with them. There was never a lull in the conversation. When we got in the car to go home, Kate was enthusiastic about our time with them. It was good to see her enjoy herself.
That wasn’t the only good thing about the day. About an hour after we got home, I took her for her monthly facial. Less than an hour after that we were at Casa Bella for Opera Thursday. As usual, we sat with the same two couples. While Kate does not talk a lot, she feels comfortable with them. Equally important, the singers last night were especially good. It is a very intimate setting, and we were right in front of the singers. What a great way to finish what had already been a great day. I hope we will be able to continue having periodic days that this.
