Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
- Kahlil Gibran

Recently Cole and I returned to Sun Valley, Idaho with our good friends, Joyce and Larry, and a group of their friends. The trip couldn’t have come at a better time.

Anyone can tell you, I tend to run at full steam (and then some) until I drop (which is rare). Lately, though, I was feeling run down and kind of blue. Business, family, social obligations… making time for everything just felt like more of a chore.

Then along came Joyce, with her sweet ways, saying, “We’re going to Sun Valley next weekend and want you and Cole to come along.” Well, of course we jumped at the opportunity.

Our hosts: the happiest couple.

It must have been a combination of factors: the gleaming snow against a brilliant blue sky, the sublimely beautiful setting, the copious amounts of laughter, and the rich history of our friendships all worked their magic to provide a much needed respite from stress.

The Breakfast Club.

Each evening was spent in fellowship. The girls all gathered on the couch with tea and hot chocolate to chat. Though we delved into very deep issues involving love and loss, there was no moroseness. Rather, the spirit of our friendship elevated us all to a better understanding.

The boys gathered a short way away, playing cards. Cole sat with them, hunched over his sketchpad, drawing away.

Cole and his eldest son, Cole Jr.: chip & block.

Later that evening, Cole mentioned feeling concerned; as he hadn’t heard me contribute much to the conversation the ladies were having, though I sat with them. I explained to him that I was merely steeping in our togetherness. There was deep care and affection at work in our group and I was simply allowing myself to bask in it.

It was restorative.

… and the Moses Stick

The week after we returned from Sun Valley was business as usual… a packed calendar, clients calling, and designs to be done.

Then one afternoon, quite unexpectedly, my friend Dena showed up with a gift. Dena and her husband Eric are so special and were an integral part of the uplifting weekend we had just finished.

Well, Dena stepped into my office with what looked like a large tree branch… actually it was a “Moses Stick.” She said it was a gift and felt sure that I could appreciate the story of its maker.

Roosevelt Wilkerson is an unassuming artist who has found his way out of homelessness through his craft. Wilkerson, who grew up in Dallas, searches the banks of the Trinity River for the ash and cedar branches that become his walking sticks. Once found, he strips them of their bark and begins carving the Ten Commandments into the wood. The sale of his walking sticks is Wilkerson’s only source of income.

Though he lives humbly, Wilkerson’s unique sticks now grace the homes and offices of many prominent Texans (among those, former President George W. Bush, who received a stick when he governor of Texas; Governor Rick Perry; former Dallas Mayor (now Congressman) Ron Kirk; and former Dallas Cowboy, Roger Staubach). In 2007, President Bush presented His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI with one of the Moses Sticks.

Needless to say, I was delighted with the gift and the story.

My friends are dear to me, and though I don’t get to spend much time relaxing with them, I appreciate every precious moment.

Thank you Joyce and Larry, Dena and Eric, Megan and Joe, Phil, Mary Clare, Cole Jr., and Cole.

Love,
Sherry

Comments

May 09, 2011 - 06:10 PM Joyce Lacerte

I loved your blog. I felt it was a very special weekend as well.

May 10, 2011 - 10:52 AM Cheryl Van Duyne

Friends make our lives happier and more interesting. Thank you for sharing your wonderful vacation with friends.

October 13, 2012 - 01:28 AM Peggy

I read your post and wished I was good enoguh to write it

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