Tonight was the twelfth gathering…

Tucker shares Arthur Nissan’s arwork.

There were thirteen of us here this evening for our Friday Night Gathering — the twelfth Friday get-together without Nyel.  It’s hard to realize that a dozen weeks (and two days) have gone by since he left us.

And yet, the time has not behaved normally.  At least, not for me.  Some days crawl by without accomplishment.  Others gallop and crash into one another and maybe things get done but I can scarcely remember what they might have been — a phenomenon which matters sometimes.  And mostly not.

And did I mention the fabulous food?

The first Friday without Nyel, there were twenty of us here — friends who came to offer support to me and to one another. The simple fact of their being here was a lovely tribute to both Nyel and me; the caring was palpable.  Since then, the numbers have varied — sometimes eight or nine, seldom fewer.   And things have settled back into a rhythm that has become soothingly familiar over the twenty years since our Friday Night tradition began.

Another Friday Night in Greater Downtown Oysterville

We talk, we laugh, we plan, we give one another a hard time now and then, even as we share our successes, our annoyances, our aha moments.  We don’t always agree but we seldom disagree very seriously.  It’s comfortable — a fitting finale to one week and a promising beginning to the next.

Or, at least that’s how I see it.

 

 

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