A Salve for the Soul

Back in my Girl Scout days, we sang a little song:

Make new friends, 

but keep the old.

One is silver,

and the other's gold.

After a busy week of doing a semester's worth of Joe's laundry...

....and getting Mary re-elected as mayor....

...I pointed my little Elantra east and took off for Atlanta!

On this adventure, I was going to see my golden friends Sylvia and Terry Goggin. 

Sylvia invited me to join her for a Southern Tea, which was a fundraiser for Alzheimer's. She mentioned to the organizer that I'm a writer and perhaps I could get an article about the tea in a magazine. After attending the lovely tea on Saturday, I can attest that it is certainly magazine-worthy! 

Upon our arrival, we were greeted at the end of the driveway by two precious cuties who offered us FREE LEMONADE. We graciously accepted and continued up the hill to the tea.

It was a lovely affair with delicious treats to eat, including the shrimp and grits Sylvia woke up early Saturday morning to make. She also made Mississippi Blueberry Delight tartlettes and I helped with making the tomato sandwiches. Here are a few snapshots of the day:

It was a lovely day, and I made many new friends, including Sandy (above) who hosted this tea as she has done every year for the past 14 years. I was so honored to be included.

The weekend was particularly poignant, as it was my first Mother's Day weekend without my mother. She was in my thoughts all weekend, especially at the tea. I kept thinking about how much I know she would have loved it.

When I returned home safely from my journey, I was greeted with some beautiful flowers from Nicole. 

While I wasn't able to spend my day with my children, I held them in my hearts, and they let me know I was in theirs. My Mother's Day wish for them is that they will be forever blessed with great friends, just as I have been blessed with. 

Back to that little ditty we sang in Girl Scouts--we used to sing it in a round. As it turns out, there are many more lyrics to the song, which I found on scoutsongs.com. The lyrics perfectly describe our long-lasting friendship with the Goggins:

A circle is round,
it has no end.
That's how long,
I will be your friend.

A fire burns bright,
it warms the heart.
We've been friends,
from the very start.

You have one hand,
I have the other.
Put them together,
We have each other.

Silver is precious,
Gold is too.
I am precious,
and so are you.

You help me,
and I'll help you
and together
we will see it through.

Across the land
Across the sea
Friends forever
We will always be.

Blessings to all who read this!

Susan