ENDURING BONDS

When I lived in Kalamazoo, Jen and Steve Earley were my next-door neighbors.  They had two young children, Megan, 7, and Scott, around 5.  Steve was in the Navy, so they moved before I retired and came north in 2006.  We’ve kept in touch over the years with occasional emails and yearly holiday letters.  Last week, Jen emailed that their daughter Megan, now 29 and an illustrator, was in Traverse City painting a fence mural for Wiggle Butts & Waggin’ Tails Dog Daycare and Boarding.  We met for dinner Wednesday evening and had a wonderful time catching up on our lives, twenty-two years later.  The next afternoon, I went to the daycare to watch Megan paint.  As Megan brought Quinn, the owner’s Great Pyrenees, to life with her artistry, I marveled at what this young woman had become.  On my drive home, my heart was full of friendship’s enduring bonds.