Talking About Africa

It was such a delight to have Bill & Julie Johnson and their family come for a visit this evening!  I went to college with Bill at OU and we were all neighbors when we lived in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.  Bill drove us to the hospital the night Emily was born.  Audrey and Karis were best friends when they were young.

Boynes and Johnsons

It was so fun to reminisce about old times in Abidjan.  To remember friends, events, and a time before civil war tore it all apart.  We all agreed that we REALLY miss Chez Abou's!

MK's now PK's

What was really neat was to watch the kids reconnect after so much time.  It was as if it had only been since last week that they have seen each other. There is something about a connection that MK's have with each other that they can't share with others.  It is an experience shared that others simply can never understand.

While we only had an evening to share, it was a treasured one.  In fact, for the girls, it's still going on, as Karis and Kristen are spending the night. (a really big deal since, it means a night that they won't spend at grandma's house)

We shared so many meals together overseas; it was so nice to do so again. (see picture of grill, below)  Good friends are few and far between, but friends like this are just incredibly rare.  But, like the children, we can take up in the relationship as if it was only last week.

We left Abidjan in 2002.  We saw them in 2007 and 2009.  WAY too long between visits.

I thank God for the blessing of friends.