Not all of my cancer journey bucket list items involve
lengthy road trips to faraway places. Most of them, as a matter of fact, will simply
be fun outings to local restaurants, events and other activities with friends
and family members. After all, it’s the little things that count—like
friendship, laughter, and sharing our most valuable commodity—time.
Shown in the photo at
right are my longtime writing buddies, Marilyn (Chica) Zapata on the left, me
in the middle, and Dawn Storey, when we had lunch at Sam’s Boat Restaurant in
Seabrook to celebrate my new journey. The feather boas were Chica’s idea—she’s
a world-traveler who likes to jazz things up. The three of us met while taking
a creative writing class in 2006, formed a writers’ critique group, and have
been meeting once a month ever since. Over the years, we formed a close
friendship that goes well beyond writing. To get a glimpse of our journey, read
the story I wrote about our faithful little group titled, “Writing from the Heart”.
We’ve supported each other through good times and bad, and always came out
giggling! Maybe it had something to do with those tickly feathers!
In the photo at left are
my former neighbors (for eight years), and still close friends, Rosemary Sharp,
on the left with her grandniece Jaelynn, me in the middle, and Susan Curnutt. We
headed for Galveston on a sunny, February day, to eat lunch at Bubba Gump
Seafood Restaurant (YUM!), and then explored all the attractions on the
Pleasure Pier.
We rode that GIANT Ferris wheel, and, as you can see, it was a
tad windy! But we had a great time, enjoying the beautiful weather and
spectacular views of the ocean from the top of the Ferris wheel! It was a day I
won’t ever forget!
My younger sister,
Charlotte Dillard, loves to go to the movie theater. Since I hadn’t been in,
oh, roughly 20 years, she thought I was long overdue! So we spent a fun
afternoon together in the Cinemark Theater (there were 18 theaters in that
building—who knew things could change so much in only 20 years??) watching a
comedy/action movie.
We laughed so loud and long, I thought the management
would kick us out to the lobby! Laughter is good for the soul, and sharing
laughter with friends and family is even better! I sincerely hope the
management won’t post our photos at the box office as potential troublemakers,
because we have plans for many more theater visits to come.
The best things in
life aren’t things!!
We rode that GIANT Ferris wheel, and, as you can see, it was a
tad windy! But we had a great time, enjoying the beautiful weather and
spectacular views of the ocean from the top of the Ferris wheel! It was a day I
won’t ever forget!
