Rhododendron Heart

Day 228: I spent a large portion of the day with my 90-year old fishing buddy and his wife today. He is struggling with a number of health issues (not surprising at his age) and I know too well that my time with him is in short supply. He is a jewel of a man who married his childhood sweetheart and raised two daughters well. The girls are my age, and often they refer to me as their "other" sister, yet it is he and his wife to whom I am closest.

Today, our scattered conversations dwelt on family and fishing, on birds and flowers, on a projected Father's Day dinner and on the priceless commodity of friendship, as tender as the heart of this rhododendron which was blooming in their yard.