Last night was magical. Our  friends, Gretchen and Dominic had signed up for the meal train and they showed up with Lobster mac and cheese, garlic bread and flan.  Although it had been a rough day and 1/2 an hour before they arrived I was lying down in pain, I rallied and was able to join in the merriment and feasting.  

I know Gretchen from the Palmetto Art  Center, a facility she owned and ran.  Pre-Covid, I attended her Zumba, Pilates and strength classes. Gretchen is one of the most positive and loving women I know and her classes were always fun — coming to class felt like getting together with family.  Her Zumba classes were the perfect excuse for all of us to unleash our inner 6 year olds.  We did conga lines, belted out lyrics and danced our butts off.  We wore bunny ears for Easter, reindeer antler headbands at Xmas time  and we always celebrated being free to dance it out.  My girlfriend,  Donna, taught classes there occasionally and we had a blast!

Hans and I did not know Gretchen’s husband, Dominic very well, but quickly discovered he has a wonderful sense of humor, a wide range of interests and is, as one would expect from anyone Gretchen would be with,a really well grounded person. 

The four of us sat in the living room, sharing stories and laughing together for an hour and a half, stopping only to move to the dinner table. By the time they left at 10pm, our faces hurt from smiling and laughing for 31/2 hours.