Catching up in the Lone Star State

"There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family"-unknown

So most of my life, until after college, I moved about every six years. As a kid, I loathed this, as an adult I truly do appreciate it. As much as it was a challenge to start over {felt like all the time} it allowed me and my family to meet some incredible people, some of whom we are still in contact with. We moved so much because my dad was in the military and then he went into the ministry. Both of these professions are demanding at times and we always looked to build a community around us wherever we lived. I think the most significant place we ever lived was in Clovis, New Mexico. It was there that we met people, that I didn't realize at the time, would be in our lives permanently. They became our family. It is so nice to know that no matter where we go, they would always be there for us, no matter how far.

I moved to Clovis when I was seven years old and lived there until I was 12. It was there my mama met two of her best friends, Mrs. Sharon and Mrs. Peggy. Also while we lived there my Uncle Keith moved out there {he was in the military too}. He had known my parents from when they were stationed in Florida in the late 1970s. I don't have too many memories that don't have at least one of these people in it. My parents were very social and we would have people over to our house all the time. We would play games, watch movies, go to church league soft ball games and so much more. We were the first to move away and to say it broke my heart, would be the understatement of the century. Each one eventually would move away over the years, but they all ended up in and around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

So fast forward to Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. My mom had been wanting to take a trip with me and my sister Katie, sans family. This is hard to do because Katie, who is also a teacher, has a different calendar than me. But that weekend worked out to where we both had it off, so we decided to go with mom and see our "family" in Texas.

I flew to Nashville, where my mom and sister joined me and we flew to Dallas. I will say if you have to fly to Dallas, the Dallas Lovefield Airport is not a bad airport to fly into. There are only about three airline carriers that fly in there, but it is worth it in my opinion to go there over DFW. Flying back home going through TSA was easy peasy (took less time to go through there than it did when I left Charlotte.) Peggy picked us up from the airport and drove us to Ft. Worth as she was also visiting for the weekend. Peggy and mom stayed with Sharon and Katie and I stayed with her daughter, Lauren. We have known Lauren since she was three years old and she is more like a sister to us than a friend.

After we arrived at Sharon's we caught up on things with them. Later that day my Uncle Keith and Aunt Shelia arrived. We played cards and laughed about old memories and caught up on life.

We had dinner there that night and I was just struck by how fortunate we all were. Not many people, who have moved as much as my family and others have, can say that they are still good friends with people the met over twenty-something years ago {in my opinion}. Side note, we had a group picture taken but I forgot to get someone to send it to me. It just goes to show that there are some people who are meant to stay in your life, but you have to be willing to work at it and meet half way. None of it is taken for granted I can promise you that. The other thing I truly loved about that night and dinner is we separated the men from the women. Sharon also invited a couple that I had never meet but the others had and so there were about 11 of us total. As the women sat around eating our white bean chicken chili {which was amazing} the conversation started talking about marriage. Lauren is recently engaged and is planning her wedding for this June. It was amazing to sit and listen to all of us talk about what we have learned from being married. There was a range of years of marriage at the table and I think the common theme from all was that marriage is an awesome thing, however it is a choice to wake up every day and put your significant other first. To have a marriage built on respect for one another. It has its honeymoon phase but after that you have to make it a priority and work at it. I think of the women who were sitting there with me and I am so grateful for what each one has taught me about marriage. It also made me think of the best marriage I had the privilege to watch and that was my grandparents.

In my family we often joked, we knew why my Pawpaw could be married to my Nanny for so long but we often marveled that my Nanny could be married to my Pawpaw for that long. My grandfather was a character and God literally broke the mold when he created him. He was a lot of things but the thing I always admired about him was the way he loved my Nanny and his family. He always made sure to let us know who we were and whose we were. I will never forget how he always would say E.G., my nickname for Erin Gale, remember I love you. If I as his grandchild was always so certain of him, I can only image how much more my Nanny knew it. He adored her and she him. There were difficult days in their marriage but they never lost sight of one another. All of this came to me that night in Mrs. Sharon's dining room.

This trip for me wasn't as much about exploring as it was catching up with old friends and enjoying each others company. So on Saturday we went to get pedis and lunch. We ate at this place called Houlihan's. Not sure if this is a chain restaurant but it was really good food. Katie and I ate off their $5 menu that was special that day if you sat in the bar area. Lauren had a great deal where you could have a three-course dinner for $19 and then Daniel {Lauren's fiancee} took them up on there wing deal which was $0.25 per wing. We also decided to split a dessert that was really so delicious.

Afterwards we went home to watch both NFL conference games. I took a nap through the no-call ending of the Saints/Ram game but rallied to watch the Patriots/Chiefs game. Mama, Sharon, Frank and Peggy all came over for dinner to Lauren's house, as well as Daniel's mom. We ate and watched the football games. It was just a relaxing day and evening, which is just what I needed.

Like I said earlier, one of the benefits to moving a lot is you meet a lot of people and thanks to social media, you can continue to have pseudo-friendships with many people. Drop a line every now and then when they post something you can relate to but really only know what is going on based on what they post. I think this sometimes makes us lazy in our friendships and can give us a false sense of knowing what is going on in their lives, so we really have to make an effort to stay connected. Anyway, I have been able to follow and keep in touch with a friend of mine that I met when I lived in Texas as a teenager. His name is Kevin and I got to see him and catch up on the last day of our trip and it was awesome!

When Ken and I got married went spent our honeymoon in Hawaii, where he took me to get my first taste of ramen {the cups in the grocery store do not compare.) I posted a picture of the occasion and how much I loved it. Kevin responded by telling me he loved ramen too and through that exchange I found out that he was a chef and he loved to cook. So I really started to pay attention to all the food pics he would posted and discovered that he was the executive chef at a cafe in Ft. Worth, called Tokyo Cafe.

The food was AMAZING!!!! Everyone at the table each tried something different, I won't list all that we had but I included pictures. So I think my hands down favorite was the bao buns that were filled with brisket {so tender and flavorful} with a side of teriyaki sauce {I think, if I am wrong it was still great}. Katie and I both got this and she loved it so much that she got an order to go so she could bring it back to Nashville with her that afternoon. I had the tan tan ramen and it was sooooo gooooood. It was just comforting and that is all I can say about that. I also tried the shrimp tempura roll and enjoyed it....{I went for broke on the food and I don't care}. Another dish that was different and you wouldn't expect to see on the menu was fish and chips. The fish were breaded in panko crumbs, which made it look very light, with a side of fries. Mrs. Peggy ordered this and she said it was really good. The food was great but the best part was catching up with Kevin and hearing about how life was going for him and his family. If you are ever in Ft. Worth, you need to look this place up, like Kevin said it is simple cafe food, but it hits the spot. Mama is already planning on trying to take my bonus dad there, if they have time, when they are back for Lauren's wedding in June.

The only bad thing about this trip was that it was too short. There were other friends of my mine I would have loved to have seen but there just really wasn't time. I am so glad we went. It was a nice reminder of just how many people I have in my life, who know me and and love me for exactly who I am. I think mama would like to make this girls trip an annual thing and for my part I would love to see that happen as often as possible. There is something so special to have time with my mom and sister and let them be my sole focus.

By the way, since this blog focused more on seeing friends and what I learned, I would love to hear your stories about lasting friendships or the best advice you were given about marriage. Drop me a note on the blog or on social media.