Keep the old

Make new friends
But keep the old
One is silver
And the other, gold

        -- anon

I won’t be sharing gifts this year – I haven’t even received mail since leaving Merced last February – but I just got one of the best presents I could hope for.

My friend Bill Morgan from back home called with my 100-year-old buddy Frank Pelatowski standing by for a chat. Bill was instrumental in one of the first great adventures I had along the road. His introduction got me to meet Del Smith in McMinville, Oregon and to see his wonderful air museum (soon to be an air and space museum).

Bill has called a few times, but not lately, so it was particularly nice to hear from him during my lonely Christmas week.

Frank’s participation was very special. Bill was so thoughtful when he realized how much our friendship means to both Frank and me. We became friends almost immediately – despite the fact that we disagree on just about every political issue in the world – and our bond grew stronger every week as we got together to write and go to class where we share what we’ve created (Frank always got better reviews…go figure).

It was just great to hear Frank’s voice. We’ve had many heart-to-heart talks and, in the context of writing about our lives – know each other quite well, almost as if we’d been friends for years and years.

I’ve met hundreds of people during the past 10 months and have talked about my friendship with Frank with most of them. I have dozens of Frank stories to share; he’s a great icebreaker -- though not nearly as much as in person.

Though my motive for moving in with Frank and Bill and others who now occupy a place in my thoughts was rather impure – I joined the family in order to qualify for the corporation’s travel program and to take this trip – I’m really looking forward to returning to the “family.”

I won’t be staying long-term, but am looking forward to the reunion in February.

I don’t believe anyone from the facility has been tracking my progress by reading this blog, but I’ll still say, Merry Christmas to all of my friends on North R Street in Merced.