Finally!!

Finally, Chris and I have met.

As Don came home on Tuesday night, pulling into the garage, Chris, husband Alain and son Joel drove in within seconds directly behind him.

I stood at the door, waiting for what seemed an eternity and then there was Chris ~ coming up my walkway to my front door.

She came right into my arms as we shared a hug and yes it felt like I already knew her. Chris is warm, loving and has all the character traits that I cherish in a friend. You can see in her the love she radiates for her husband and children.

This woman is truly a treasure!!

Her friendship which I have treasured for years has now become a living breathing relationship.

I stretched out my hand to shake Joel and Alain's hands, but they just reached out to share a hug ~ they too already knew me through Chris. It was immediately so comfortable.

Joel made a interesting observation when he and I were chatting at breakfast the next morning. He commented that this was an easy transition as the trust has already been established and as well the knowledge of each other that takes so long when developing a friendship. We so easily slipped into comfortable talk and easy companionship.

This visit had seemed a little like Christmas day ~ so much excitment and buildup and then in a flash it was over.

But, what a wonderful time we had with her, Alain and Joel.

It seems a little surreal to me that she actually was here after all of our years of communicating through emails. It was so amazing to be sitting in the same room with Chris talking and sharing like we have for years on email.

My plan had been that we would sit outside in the garden and barbecue corn, homemade burgers, sausages and of course my Tuscan smashed potatoes. But, alas, it was not to be ~ about 1 1/2 hours before they arrived the skies opened and poured down rain for the rest of the evening ~ so I had to quickly change course. The corn was steamed on the stove. I put together a huge green salad and grilled seasoned chicken breasts which I quickly had to defrost. They brought a lovely bottle of Ontario red wine. By the time we polished that off (our second bottle) and then coffee and liquors ~ a shot or three of Rémy Martin, I was feeling quite tingly. After imbibbing that much, normally I would want to close my eyes and go to sleep, but the stimulation of our visit and conversation for the very first time kept me awake until after 1:30. Don had to get up at 6:00 for work, so I thought it best at that time if we all went to bed ~ I didn't want to keep him awake with our talking.

Sidenote ~ I didn't really sleep at all that night ~ too excited.

Now that they are gone ~ I wonder did it really happen? I must pinch myself awake.

Coincidentally her son Joel also was leaving our home to go to Minneapolis to meet a friend he too has known via email for years.

So now we are back to emails, but can we look forward to a visit to their home in the future? I hope so.

Now that we have finally meet, I would dearly love to keep this friendship alive with visits.

But thank goodness for the wonders of technology today, we can email or even talk using a webcam and Skype to stay in touch when we can't be together in person.

Edited to add: Joel is not in the picture because he was behind the camera!