When my BFF married her high school sweetheart, he promised me he’d bring her to California at least once a year.

He kept that promise and the four of us became great friends.

There’s something special about a friendship that’s begun in early years.  

No matter what roads we travel, we’re always the same people when we get together.

No false pretenses and no interest in attempting to impress with whatever ladders we’ve climbed. 

That’s how it was for the four of us.

We had so many of the same memories and there was a comfort in that…..a familiarity.

And to add a bit more, we were all four a touch of crazy.

Often when we were together, we forgot to be …..well, adultish!

We spent a week in Maui together when my high school sweetheart and I were married.

They stood on the beach with us and witnessed as we said our vows to each other.

We toured, ate wonderful food, of course we drank, we snorkled, we danced, and we laughed…..oh how we laughed.

If I close my eyes, I can be back in the bar in Lahina watching her crazy husband walking toward us.  

His shorts were pulled way up high, he was walking with drooped shoulders and there was a toilet paper parade stuck to his shoe.

When you have a drink or two under your belt…..that kind of thing becomes extremely funny!

That makes me wonder if she remembers……….

the time we were down The Big Sur and stopped for dinner.

When again, her crazy husand returned to our table from the bathroom, he told us the guy in the next stall peeked his head under and looked up at him.

That’s  something you don’t expect to hear so when you do, there’s no time to try to react any way other than well, fall apart. 

And we did!  

Or, the time he was screwin’ around with the wick on a lit oil lamp on our diner table in Mendocino and he caught the tablecloth on fire! 

True!

The very first time they came to California was at Christmas time.

We had 8 kids between us.

She had gained one through marriage and so had I.

My oldest, the one that wanted to return “home,” didn’t.  

She stayed, enrolled in college, got a job and began her young adult life.

We rented a yellow van and dubbed it Big Banana.

Eleven of us took two road trips in Big Banana; one day to San Francisco where we did the cable car, rode up and down the hills…..including the crookedest street, drove over the Golden Gate and crammed in as much as we could of that magical city. 

The other to Lake Taho. 

Imagine 7 teenagers on ski’s….. each for their very first time!

Just funny!

The time spent riding to and from in Big Banana was part of the fun.  Everyone was happy….. four “adults”, seven teenagers, and together we all  laughed…..just like always, we laughed.

I hope every now and then the laughing people who rode in that Big Banana together, remember. 

Hope it takes everyone back to that time for just a short visit where so many fun memories were made.

Memories like……….

the night we had “Teen Club.”  

We played 70’s music and everyone danced, no partners…..just all of us dancin’ with all of us.

And the night we all found kitchen pots, pans and tools, clanged them all together and we became an 11-piece band.

For the rest of my years, everytime I’ve heard Aretha beltin’ out         R E S P E C T, I see her daughter with a spatula as a microphone and singin’ her heart out.

Or, “I’m Too Sexy” performed by her son using the same spatula microphone.

It was a magical time for eleven happy people.

For the rest of our years of trips back and forth, it was just the four of us.

Which by the way, was perfectly fine with us.

I wonder if she remembers……….

 the day she called out of the blue to tell us a trip to San Diego had just fallen into their laps and they were taking it and leaving soon as they hung up the phone.

They were boarding the plane in moments and would be there in about 8 hours. 

The hotel room was paid for and we should come. 

We hung up the phone, looked at each other for maybe 3 seconds, then did some crazy fast packing.

We were on the road going south in less than half an hour and believe it, don’t believe it, still it’s true…..just about 8 hours later, as we were walking toward their hotel door, we heard keys rattling and laughter, recognizable laughter.

They had left from Michigan on a plane and us from Sacramento in our car and we arrived in San Diego at the exact same time!!!

How does THAT happen?

We spent a day in the beautiful San Diego Zoo, watched enormous whales breech alongside our whale watching boat and pedaled one of those bicyle buggies for four. 

Or…..

The time we spent half a day riding through Pebble Beach in an old jalopy. 

Or…..

When we toured Southern California in a BIG, LONG, OLD Cadillac!

One of Lobo’s territories was Reno.  

Every other Thursday he was in Reno and just before coming home…..he hit THE MACHINES!!

He came home one Thursday with an extra $1200 in his pocket, he’d won on the Poker machine.

My BFF and her guy were arriving the next day.

They hadn’t been able to get a flight into Sacramento so they were coming into San Francisco.

We’d pick them up, no big deal. 

WHO minds going to San Francisco?

But…..we went in a Limousine!

We didn’t tell them and arrived in a Limo.

TRY to imagine how hard they laughed when they saw our “ride.”

That’s what you do with an extra $1200, right?  

You ride to San Francisco and back to Sac…..Limo style!

And, for many years, everytime we picked them up at the airport, we were in disguise. 

It was a time in life when we really were FREE to walk wherever we wanted throughout the aiport, dressed how we wanted and carrying whatever we wanted……YES, there was a time like that!

So, we always showed up at the unloading gate anxiously awaiting and in a little disguise.

Once we dressed as two bums.  

Now hang on…..I KNOW that’s a politically incorrect term for today but I’m tellin’ you from way back and I don’t know a politically correct word for bum.

So, we were dressed as bums (like Halloween) we each had a “brown paper bag” wrapped around a bottle and we were sitting on the floor, leaning up against the wall.

Try that one in today’s airports!!

I might add here that we called her “one beer BFF.”

That’s because all it took was for her was to down one beer, and then  the craziness began.

Like the time……….

We were celebrating the holidays together.

We were in San Francisco one evening and had an awesome experience of a meal in one of the well-known restaurants.  

When we were done, we decided to follow the loud laughter that was happening in one of the hotel conference rooms.

We opened the door and peeked in.

Nobody was there to tell us it was a private corporate party or to stop us from walking in and sitting down at an empty table, and so we did.

The drinks were flowing from an Open Bar.

And then it happened….. she had a beer!

They were playing Jeopardy up on the stage.

Next thing that happened is my one-beer BFF AND my a few-beers husband were UP ON THAT STAGE!

I don’t know how that happened but there they were AND, they were answering all the questions, winning gift certificates AND they were FUNNY.

The crowd was roaring.

Didn’t ANYBODY recognize that they didn’t work with them?

Later, we divided the certificates. They were from Macy’s.

The next day we spent time in Macy’s spending them.

Maybe that’s something you’d never think of doing…..neither would I NOW but, it was pretty funny way back then.

The next week it was New Years Eve and we were in Monterey.

Freddie “Boom Boom” Cannon was appearing at one of the hotels.

Had it been the 60’s when he was on a roll, and we were dancin’ to his songs it would have been a thrill to buy tickets, but this was MANY years down the road. 

His “Boom Boom” was out of air.

BUT…..hey, it was a beautiful evening, we were on the loose, we knew where he was playing and staying so we decided to pay him a visit.

After all, here we were in the flesh…..four fans from way back who bought his records and helped make him “Boom Boom.”

We needed his room number and knew no one was gonna give it to us so, that should stop us?

First things first, we had A BEER!

How to find Freddie?

She had a plan.

We needed to find a service elevator.

The restaurant kitchen…..there must be one there.

So, the four of us found the kitchen, pushed through the double swinging doors and walked to the elevator like we belonged there.

We got on, the doors closed and she kicked it in gear.

There was a phone to the kitchen, she picked up the receiver and in a horrible accent-combination of maybe Italian & Mexican she said she was on her way up to deliver a tray to Freddie but forgot his room number and BINGO…..just like that, we had it!

First we laughed, then we got off on his floor, found his room and knocked on his door.

AND…..there he was! 

Freddie “Boom Boom” Cannon of WAY DOWN YONDER IN NEW ORLEANS, standing before us wrapped in nothing but a towel.

She was hysterical.

Told him she was the president of his fan club, had all his music, followed him like a groupie in the sixties, even got married to his music and could she have 4 tickets to his show?

Poor Freddie, he was trapped and she was relentless but he obviously had experience from long ago with over zealous fans.

He swore he had no ticket power.  Couldn’t even get tickets for his friends or family.

Finally he gave her an autograph and we were on our way.

We didn’t really want to go to his concert anyway.

But, we didn’t leave the hotel right then. 

There was a pre-party going on with great music.  The dance floor was roped off but there were a zillion people out there rockin’ it up. 

We decided to join them. 

We slipped past the rope, danced our way to the middle of the floor and until the rope guards noticed that there were four people dancing with no colored bracelets on, we had a great time.

When we saw them coming toward us…..well, we danced to the edge of the floor and then slipped out the back, Jack!

Immature? VERY!

Although much of this happened while we were in our 40’s and from where we stand now…..40 was VERY young!

Goofy Crazy? YES

But, we were pretty innocent, just wanted to have fun with never an intent to ever hurt anyone but one time we did……….

A couple we knew from years ago, invited us to spend the night with them while we were touring. 

We thought it woud be fun and it was.

But, we went over the line with our joking.

She heard about it later and we had hurt her feelings.

For that, I’ve always been sorry.

I sent her a Thank You card with an apology but…..I couldn’t take back what we’d done.

Still today when I think of her, I feel bad.

I learned a huge lesson from that happening.  

Laughter isn’t funny at someone elses expense

I  remember……….

the trip up into northern California riding along the Pacific.  

It didn’t feel right, something was wrong but I didn’t know what.

She seemed out of energy, tired.  She dozed off a lot. 

It was just different.

Was she growing tired of the nonsense?

The answer revealed itself shortly after she returned home.

She had breast cancer.

(more to follow)