"Looking at a friend and saying, I will if you will."
I am very blessed to have great friends in my life. Some I've had for a long time and some I have just recently met. But all are precious to me. Of course, I always think back to some of the funniest stories.
I remember one year when my friend Deb invited me to tag along with her on a cruise. She was a travel agent at the time and could bring someone with her on one of her training trips for a small fee. Her husband couldn't go so she invited me. Now, for the most part, Deb had training classes when we were in port , so I went out and wondered around on my own. But one day, when we were docked at Grand Cayman, I talked Deb into doing a two person submarine tour. You see, the true beauty of Grand Cayman lies under the water. Deb and the water were not friends at the time, so I thought this would be a good way for her to see how spectacular the sealife was around the island. Oh, did I mention that Deb's also just a wee bit claustrophobic?
Anyway, we get to our meeting point and they inform us that we have to take a little boat out to the place where they launch the sub. (Did I mention that Deb also gets a little bit sea sick at times?) I get "the look" from Deb, but bless her, she climbs in the boat anyway and joins me. We get out to this platform they have built in the ocean and I get my first glimpse of the submarine. It's really small. Like really, really, small. I start sneaking looks at Deb to try and see if she's ready to kill me yet. Then they say the words that no woman wants to hear coming out of any man's mouth, "We have to weigh you so we can make sure we properly balance the submarine." WHAT???? They do realize that we have been on a cruise all week, eating our merry little hearts out, don't they? Ok...so we make it past that and begin to go through the safety features. At this point, Deb is seriously staring at the sub and starts asking questions like, "It's totally water proof right? It will not leak, right? How long will be in that thing?"
Sorry the only photos I have are in one of the scrapbooks. Sorry for the poor photo quality. I'm not sure if Deb is smiling in a happy way or an I'm going to kill you way ;)
I'm starting to think that if we make it through this, she's going to seriously consider smothering me in my sleep. I just look at her and smile sheepishly, all the time saying encouraging things like this will be fun, I promise. In my head I'm frantically praying, Dear Lord, please, please, please let this be fun. They continue explaining that there will be a diver going down with us and he will drive the sub from behind while explaining through a microphone what we are seeing. We will be able to communicate with him the whole time.
We finally get in and get settled. They close the lid. Deb starts pouring her ice from her cup into her mouth, crunching the ice furiously. They begin to lower us in the water, and the lower we get into the water, the wilder Deb's eyes get. So, I start saying things like, "It's fine. This is going to be fun, I promise. See, we're ok. No leaks." When we finally saw our first fish, she began to relax and have fun and she quit giving me the looks of "I can't believe you talked me into this." It was a great way to see the reef. I even got to drive the sub using a remote control device. We had a blast! And, I still giggle a little when I think of Deb's face when we started to go under. I think she even laughs at it now. I hope she does.
I have many other fond and funny memories made with friends over the years.
Dana-- remember Mark's mustang + Mountain Dew + airborne --- hehehe. Sorry about your car Mark.
Donna- remember pizza hut + your moms car + the Highline canal? It's funny now, right?
Scott- remember the water fight on the church roof?
David- remember sad Thursday?
Steve & Karen- remember hiking up in Steamboat and seeing the bear?
Rlife group- Remember Jeff and the kids zipline?
Oh I could go on and on. But I won't. I'm so grateful for the laughter we have shared with good friends.
"As you navigate through the rest of your life be open to collaboration. Other people's ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you. Spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life."
"There are amazingly, wonderful people in all walks of life; some familiar to us and others not. Stretch yourself and really get to know people. People are in many ways one of our greatest treasures."
"A fabulous friendship multiplies the good in life."
I know I couldn't make it through life without my friends. I am extremely grateful for the friendships I have had throughout the years. So today, I just want to take some time and to say thank you to everyone I call friend. You have been a blessing to me through the good and bad times. I am praying that you will all have lives rich in blessings and laughter! And I hope I'm there with you to celebrate (and laugh at) it all!
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