1. A couple weeks or so ago, Deborah (Jacobsen) Gridley, one of my best friends from our college days at Whitworth, told me that she and her husband, Scott, would be in Spokane on June 17th and 18th to visit Ron and Marianne Frase to celebrate their birthdays (Ron's 95th; Marianne's 84). We decided to meet up at the Rockwood Bakery in Spokane at 10:00 a.m. for coffee.
For the last two weeks, I have been eager for this day to come. Deborah and I have been pretty good about keeping in touch over the years, but it had been in the neighborhood of twenty years since we'd seen each other in person.
Deborah, Scott, and I immediately fell into easy, comfortable non-stop conversation for about two hours. We are all Idahoans now. Deborah and Scott moved to Eagle around the same time (I think) I moved to Kellogg and we talked about what we've experienced as new residents of Idaho. We did a little reminiscing about Whitworth, but mostly we talked about current things -- our families, church, politics, etc.
Driving home, I thought about how much goodness Deborah and I have carried forward from our time at Whitworth. If I remember correctly, our friendship deepened in the spring of 1975 when we took a history course in the Enlightenment period together from Prof. Fenton Duvall. I have vague, possibly inaccurate, memories of taking my reading assignments for that course with me to breakfast some mornings and hanging out in the dining hall when I was done eating, drinking coffee and reading. I don't know if Deborah ever sat and read with me, but I think we talked about the readings from time to time -- if not in the dining hall, well, somewhere on campus. I know it was during that spring term that we got more deeply acquainted.
I remember our friendship deepening even more the following school year. Deborah had graduated. She'd been hired as an intern (or Chaplain's Assistant) in the college's Chaplain's Office. One of her assignments was to help organize the college's Forum program, a twice weekly gathering of students and faculty in the auditorium to hear speakers, see presentations, and, sometimes, hear music. I loved Forum. I admired Deborah's work, got to help her out once in a while, and remember talking with her about different speakers and how much I enjoyed them. That fall, if I remember correctly, Deborah and I were part of what I think we called a support group that met once a week at Chaplain Ron White's home just to talk about our lives and our faith and to listen to each other.
This is just to say that the seeds for good conversation between us at the Rockwood Bakery had been planted about forty-five years ago. Without a doubt, I loved my times at Whitworth the most for the conversations I used to have in the dorms, in study groups, and in the dining hall. From time to time, I long for those kinds of conversations again, long to talk with others, as I did with Deborah, about the integration of faith and the subject matter of our academic courses, long to talk about how to respond conscientiously to what we see going on in the world.
Coffee this morning with Deborah and Scott satisfied that longing for me today. Of course, it being forty-five years later, we didn't talk like our student selves. But, underlying all we talked about was our enduring friendship and that foundation of faith, exploration, openness, and deep concern about our lives and the world that we were building while at Whitworth.
Scott and Deborah had an appointment to meet in the Spokane Valley and when they said they needed to say good-bye and get going, I know I kept saying things like "Oh! Before you go" and "Oh! One more thing" to delay our separation.
I wanted to just keep on talking together.
2. When I left Spokane, I drove straight back to Kellogg. Not only did I feel gratitude for the time Deborah, Scott, and I spent together, but I thought about how easy it is to drive to Spokane and I wondered why I don't go over more often, especially to take pictures. I did, after all, recently purchase a hiking guide to Coeur d'Alene and Spokane, and, I thought, there's no good reason why I shouldn't come over more often early in the day before the heat settles in and try out some of the more moderate hikes and take some pictures.
3. Back in Kellogg, I went to Yoke's and purchased a few items. I fixed myself a black bean, lettuce, and white rice salad. I pondered my trip to Spokane some more. I'd had enough stimulation for the day, so I didn't listen to any podcasts, watch anything on television, or do any reading. For most of the afternoon and on into the evening, I had a Walt Whitman day. Whitman writes in Song of Myself: "I loaf and invite my soul/I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass."
My loafing was so advanced that I didn't even get around to observing grass. I just loafed, pondered, enjoyed sweet memories, and retired to bed early -- with old Charly's complete approval!
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