I’m pretty sure Annie has ESP. I can think of a half dozen times when I’d be seriously struggling and the phone would ring and Annie would say, “What’s going on? I felt like I was supposed to call.” I wish I could say that I’ve done that for her. When the kids and I moved out of Mark’s house, I hadn’t told many friends. A couple days after we moved into mom’s, Annie had stopped at Mark’s business and asked of me. She’d had a feeling something was up and called me at mom’s. She’s that kind of person. She’s very intuitive.
I met Annie about 20 years ago. I was working the front counter at a sandwich/deli place. This tall woman with two darling little girls walks in, and she’s wearing the same skirt that I was wearing. That’s only weird because I’d ordered the skirt from a catalog, so she must have ordered it from the same catalog.
Her kids are older than mine. She’s an involved mom who helps run the family business, volunteers her time at her church and heads a group at the museum. We don’t see each other often, but we always pick up where we leave off.
Sometimes it feels like I’ve known her longer than I have. Maybe we knew each other in another life. Actually, I’m pretty sure I was married to her dad in another incarnation. ;) Stan and I didn’t have the timing right for this life, so I’m sure we connected in another life. And so I’ve ‘known’ Annie for a long time.
After I got to know her, we’d be gabbing over coffee, and she’d willingly share a cooking tip, and she’d start it with, “If a guy…..” It would be something like, “If a guy had some cooked chicken and some blue cheese, you could make….” Or, “If a guy wanted to plant some eucalyptus, he’d do it on the west side of the house.” And I’d giggle to myself each time she’d say, “If a guy…” It’s not like I’m carrying the banner for womens’ rights or fighting the good fight for equal wages and all that stuff (although I can get on a soap box just like any other woman, given enough wine) but it used to crack me up that she’d say, “If a guy…”
Annie is passionate about antiques. She’s a phenomenal cook. Her home looks like something out of a magazine on how to decorate with country, gardening, antiques and collections. She has a distinctive style about herself. She’s not prissy or too afraid to get her hands dirty, but she just doesn’t come across as the type of woman who would say, “If a guy…”
I’m stereotyping here, but that expression belongs to a tougher broad – one that tucks in a little chew, wouldn’t think of wearing mascara, and has never bought a tube of lip gloss.
So that’s why it was particularly sweet when, after the lambing expedition, we were standing at the sight of what was once Rose’s barn. We were all discussing how amazing it was that the heat was so intense that some of those huge old stones just exploded. Rose had been hoping to use the stones for some different landscaping projects. Annie suggested that some would still be salvageable and Stan piped up with, “If a guy…”
It’s amazing the things we pick up from our dads. I surprise myself sometimes when I hear mine coming out of me. I was blessed to get one of the really good ones, like Annie was, so I don’t really mind sounding like him sometimes.
Yep, I occasionally quote my dear old dad. And he quoted his.
Annie, Dave was blown away by the Babe and Jim connection.
My kids make fun of me… husband has picked it up too… If a guy, sometimes turns into, if a person… I will catch myself doing it and then try and analyze it with, “If a guy could stop doing this, I…” ( AACK!!!) I had never heard my dad say it, until the lamb day, or never really listened… I couldn’t believe it… too funny!
Yep the skirt came from a catalog. But there was something else, something that brought us together, a sisterhood of sorts. It has been a deep friendship that just keeps getting better and better. We can be apart for months and pick up, as if we had never been separated. After, or while your break up with Mark was happening, I just had this weird, nagging feeling something was wrong, something was off, some how you needed help. This feeling, this intuitiveness, is a scary thing, usually I am right on the money.
I cherish our found friendship, friend.
Thank you
Annie,
I would type a coherent response, but my finger is pressed firmly under my nose.
love you
Ditto… :)