For all my kvetching about guests, I'm usually very happy to have visitors.

A dear old friend arrived yesterday and is serving as a wonderful reminder of what can be great about breaks in the routine, long conversations, leisurely dinners and prompts for time on the beach. Of course, he's not actually staying WITH us, and that automatically makes him easier to host, but I will be spending as much time as possible with him during the two weeks he's scheduled to be in Seychelles.

We've not seen good old Audie in close to five years, which means he's only now being introduced to Sam and Cj, and to us as parents. Mark/Dad and Sandra/Mom are not the same people as the Mark and Sandra he knew in years past, and it's interesting to watch him adjust to the new us.

(To be completely honest, he was around for some of the time our foster son was with us, but our home life then was so far different than it is now that the 'new us' statement still applies.)

Like so many of the people who've been in and out of our lives, Audie is as accepting of our new circumstance as he would be if we'd experienced any other big event that ended up changing the fundamentals of our existence. If, for example, we'd gone broke ... or struck it rich, to put a more positive spin on the fantasy situation ... he's not only still be our friend, he'd continue to behave in exactly the same goofy, loving, let's-have-a good-laugh way he always has. With the kids now part of who we are, they're incorporated into the goof and the love as seamlessly as if they'd always been attached to the us that is us.

I've written before about how fortunate I am with the friends I have, and I know of enough people who've had nowhere near my luck in buddies to be sure that when I count my blessings friends like Audie are always in the top ten.

Continued ...