I have maintained contact by e-mail or letters with most of them, but I hadn't seen or heard from Dottie since about 1970. At that time I went to the mission field in Haiti, and she went to be a missionary in Columbia.
About a month ago, I decided to try to contact her. One of the other nurses in that group knew that she had married, and knew her last name; and she thought she lived in Goshen, In. I did a name search and found her and talked to her! It was amazing. In that conversation, we discovered that Dottie is the sister-in-law of a lady that goes to my church. She and I are friends and have gone out to eat together a few times. (Dottie's husband died a few years ago with cancer).
Thursday night Judy called me and asked if I was available for lunch on Friday. Dottie was here in town visiting her and she wanted to take her to the tea room near Cherubusco. I was so excited, as I was anxious to see Dottie and catch up on 30+ years.
Quiet Corner Tea Room
Some of the ambiance inside.
Me, Judy, and Dottie
Judy and Dottie at our table(Notice the cute little tea cozy on the teapot)
It was about a 45 minute drive to get to the tea room. As you can imagine, we talked and laughed all the way there, while we ate, and all the way home. I probably would not have recognized Dottie if I'd seen her on the street. She used to have red hair and I always thought of her as petite, because she is so short. Now she has gray/white hair and has definitely gained some weight (haven't we all!!).
What a joy it was to see her! We had such a good time. We are planning to get together sometime with Donna Burd and Gloria, two of the other nurses we worked with.
We can have many friends, but some friends are true, blue friends for a life time. It felt like old times to laugh and chat.
5 comments:
How about that TEA room? Isn't it amazing? Or did you have time to look around and discover the Christian roots; that the man who bakes the bread & owns it is also a nurse; the connection to India....they actually knew Ruby Enns (missionary to India) who is the sister of Rev. Art Enns who used to be a pastor in E.M.C. I think the whole concept of this particular tea room is absolutely wonderful!
What fun! I am so glad that you connected and that Judy and Dottie are sisters-in-law! After reading Rebecca's comments on the Tea Room . . .can we go there next time that I visit?
Rebecca--I did know that the owner is a nurse and that he bakes the bread. He also plays the Guitar for guests. I knew there was a connection to India but not that they knew Rev and Ruby Enns.
It was a lovely place--I will go there again--apparenty with Brenda!!
I feel like I need to explain :) that we listened to Sam (a pastor from Grand Rapids), Dr. Millicent Hunter, and John Hagge before going to the restaurant..... You and Lynn really should get over to the restaurant. The portions are HUGE. They always add an extra egg to any order.....we chose toast with our omelet but someone chose pancakes and I think they got 3 large ones PLUS hashbrowns! We split our meal.
I'm not sure the proprietor knew Art Enns, but he knew Ruby (his single sister). Art also married a Ruby - coincidentally.
Old friends are so wonderful!
So glad you had such a wonderful visit! Where is that Tea Room? How darling!
I am always in awe at how God places people in our lives at different times. Some friends stay, some drift in and out. Some are moved out only to be brought back at different times. I love our God gives us friends for all seasons!!!
Hope you are able to have many, many more good times together!
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