Blast from the Past

I LOVE Saskatchewan people! I spoke at a 1-day event in Estevan SK last Saturday and the gals in charge of the shindig cooked up a bit of a surprise for me. Here’s the story: Last fall I spoke for a fabulous group at Arlington Beach. A woman at that gathering told me she was friends with my old neighbor — she was referring to the next-door neighbor from my hometown, Hedy Mathies Joice. The last time I had seen Hedy was 37 years ago at her bridal shower. The woman explained that Hedy had planned to come to Arlington Beach but had a prior commitment on that date. I signed a copy of my book and sent it along for her. Fast forward a few months to the Estevan event. Before my first talk that same woman who delivered my book to Hedy took the microphone and told that story to the crowd. I suspected nothing. She then held up the copy of my book I had given her that day and read the inscription from me to my old neighbor. After that she called me up and handed me the book and told me to hand deliver it to Hedy! At the table behind me Hedy stood up with a big grin on her face. I was floored! We laughed and hugged and even managed to sneak in a few visits over the course of the day in order to fill in the almost-40-year gap in our friendship!