Time with Melissa (Finally)

My friend, Melissa was in the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago for a wedding over Father's Day weekend. After helping her friends celebrate, she came to visit us for a few days. We were thrilled to have her here. (You may remember I planned to visit her a couple of other times this year w/o success.)

When she arrived, she mentioned how beautiful the trees are here. So, I decided to take her to one of my favorite places, Muir Woods. We went late in the day on a weekday so it wasn't too crowded. We did a quick loop along the main floor then back along the hillside trail.
Before going to the woods, we had made lunch at home and enjoyed a breezy picnic. That evening, we stopped off at our favorite fruit stand then went to Joe's for dinner.

I'd told Melissa about the movie, Once and how much both Cam and I enjoyed it. Cam offered to stay home with Sam, that evening, so we could go see it. On our way there, he suggested we stop off at Sweet Water.

It happened to be West Coast Musicians Night. Melissa ended up sharing a set with a local musician and we stayed to watch some other performers. After 10 years of making music, she is interested in learning, growing and exploring other areas but I was happy to hear her play.

The playing continued the next day. Sam's friend, Cameron came over. At one point, we took the boys to their school playground. We played a bit of hide & seek tag and a game of HORSE. The boys beat both of us.

Two mornings of waking up with a good friend, sitting around in our pjs, talking about life over a cup of tea was a wonderful treat.

It is good to have friends who understand you and not just accept but embrace you, celebrate you for being yourself. Melissa, thank you for being such a friend.