Is there any greater treasure than the people you love in this life, and those who love you?
Yesterday Terry and I spent the day visiting with two very special people, who have helped enrich our lives in so many ways that I could not begin to count them all.
We met Tim and Ann Moran at our very first Escapees RV Club Escapade rally, in Lancaster, California in 2000, and there was an immediate bond that has stayed strong through all the years that followed. Maybe it was slogging through the mud to get to our motorhome, the four of us laughing and giggling like school kids as we slipped and slid across the muddy racetrack where the RVs were parked that let us know that we had met kindred souls.
In the years that followed, we all have had our ups and downs, and Tim and Ann have been there for us when we needed friends the most. During the darkest days of Terry’s battle with cancer, Tim was a strong shoulder I could lean on. In the hard times that followed as she recovered from her illness, and we recovered from the terrible financial hit it had given us, Tim and Ann were always there. At one point when we were not sure if we could carry on, they stepped forward and made it happen.
When we bought our MCI bus, Tim and Ann drove to Kingman, Arizona and spent two or three weeks helping us as we started the conversion project. We could not have done some of the big jobs early in the conversion, such as enclosing the sides and cutting in the new RV window openings, without Tim’s help.
Tim has been facing some serious health issues that have caused them to make the decision to stop fulltiming and settle down close to his doctors. It had been way too long since we saw our friends, and visiting them was the reason we came to the Titusville area.
We spent the day together yesterday, enjoying a tour of their new home, and the opportunity to just be together.
Tim is a feisty retired Navy Chief Petty Officer with a positive attitude you just can’t help but admire. His illness has knocked him down several times, but like the stubborn little Irishman he is, he just gets back on his feet, shakes it off, and charges right back into the fight. I know he’s going to win this battle, because he’s just too damn stubborn to throw in the towel.
Tomorrow Tim and Ann are taking us on a tour of the local area, and we’re looking forward to spending more time with our friends, and learning more about Florida’s Space Coast.
While we were off visting, Bad Nick wrote a new Bad Nick Blog post titled Sometimes It’s Because You’re A Jerk.
Thought For The Day – You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
And new friends are special too! We just met, for the first time, Al and Kelly, from Bayfield, Ontario. We’ve been blogging at each other for a few months, but finally got together. We feel we’ll be friends for a very long time!
Good for you for sticking with Tim and Ann, and good for them for sticking with you. I think they had the toughter job!