Paula and I returned recently from our first multi-stop, driving vacation in three decades, give or take a few years. While we saw magnificent countryside and several notable museums, we’ll undoubtedly remember this trip for the people we connected with… relationships refreshed and friendships renewed throughout our journey.
A decade ago, it struck me that as much as I adore my family, so many memorable moments come about through friendships: individuals cherished for who they are and how they live. This realization was timely, for as career intensity diminishes and children leave home, more space becomes available for others. Unfortunately, not everyone lives within convenient access, however, many friends now live along a line connecting North Iowa with the Georgia coastline. Connecting with these individuals is analogous to approaching a splendid buffet table.
Starter: In Louisville, KY, Jana and her daughter, Anjel, joined us for dinner. Jana worked with our family for five years beginning thirty years ago, a combination nanny / driver / cook / homework prompter. Her daughter, Anjel, was a five-month-old when she first came to us in 1993. We last saw Jana eight years ago; we hadn’t seen Anjel, now a mother of three, for twenty-five years.
“Delightfully bohemian,” by her own description, Jana is now an entrepreneur, founder of “One Love Hemp Dispensary,” currently building her fourth retail outlet. Seeing Jana, her two at-home children, and Anjel and her husband was remarkably special, our trip “hors d'oeuvre”.
Entrée #1: Time with Randy and Martha, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was surf in our “surf & turf” meal. It’s among our most enduring friendships, although we’d not spent time together in a half-dozen years. Randy and I were college roommates and lived and worked together during our first post-college jobs. Martha is fun-loving and family-oriented, a blend of independent and supportive. After persistent long hours, they envision selling their home-improvement business within several years, a plan that necessitates additional efforts to maximize their return. Fingers crossed.
Palate cleanser: Will and Erica, also in Winston-Salem, were our “dining intermezzo”; we spent an enjoyable morning with them. Will and I met in 2016 at the Democratic National Convention. An Alabama native, Will exudes exceptional competence and capacity. Professionally, he assists organizations seeking funding through the Inflation Reduction Act. Erica, an arts administrator, has a creative nature and a gracious personality. With a delightful two-year-old daughter, they make an engaging trio. Our time together went by too fast.
Entrée #2: Beefsteak! We met Sally 43 years ago working a U.S. Senate campaign. We promptly lost track of one another, reuniting fourteen years ago, by which point Norman, Sally’s husband, had been added to our smorgasbord. Previously, a university administrator, Sally is now a professor; she’s passionate and expressive. Norman is a county finance director; he’s droll and self-contained. They complement each other well. We’ve traveled together in Europe and Africa, plus within the US. Connecting with them for two days in Charleston, SC, and one in Savannah, GA, was the initial impetus for this trip.
Dessert: Tom just began serving as executive director of a non-profit coalition protecting children from violence and abuse. (He’ll be superb!) He works remotely from Greenville, SC. I met Tom four years ago, as he organized in Iowa for a presidential candidate. He’s creative, reflective, and insightful. He loves Greenville… and, after he toured us around, so do we.
After-dinner drink: Luciano lives in Turin, Italy, and is employed by the Presbyterian Church USA, headquartered in Louisville. He spends one week a year in Kentucky, which happened to coincide when we were passing through. He’s talented and adventurous, traveling often for work, having been recently to Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Poland, and Ukraine. He also writes novels, waking early to capture creative energies before daybreak. Luciano is always good company, in this case, a flavorful Italian wine to cap off an extraordinary meal / trip.
* * *
After ten days, we returned to North Iowa satiated, nourished, and enriched by these relationships. Yes, friendships require time. Nevertheless, I can’t imagine a more rewarding return.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Columnists
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Nik Heftman, The Seven Times, Iowa and California
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Macy Spensley, The Midwestern Creative, Davenport/Des Moines
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
To receive a weekly roundup of all Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, sign up here (free): ROUNDUP COLUMN
We are proud to have an alliance with Iowa Capital Dispatch.