Another visit with an old friend...

I am blessed.  I have had some pretty great friends in my life, and there are so many of them that I still keep in touch with, even though our paths don't get to cross regularly...whether that be because of busy schedules or because they live on the other side of the planet!

I got to see a dear friend from high school who I only get to see once a year because he lives on the other side of the planet...in Israel!  Eric, better known as Sammy, has been a buddy of mine since my high school band days.  We shared a love for music that might have gone beyond your "typical" band kid :), and we connected over that.  Eric and his dad (an incredibly accomplished professional jazz pianist) invited me to go to the Van Cliburn Piano Competition at Bass Hall in Fort Worth one year, and they also took me to hear UNT's "One O'Clock Lab Band" (an incredible jazz ensemble at the university).  I have such fond memories of both of those evenings, as it is a real treat to spend time around people who are such insane appreciators of all types of music! :)

Sammy is one of those people who has a gift for staying in touch, and I am SO thankful that he does!  In fact, he has spent time with the Peanut on three different occasions - kind of impressive considering the kid's only 20 months old and that Eric lives 7,000 miles away!

Here's a picture of the first time he met Parker in Feb. 2011 when P was just 6 weeks old!

 And here we are yesterday...P is throwing a fit fussing because Eric's mom is using my phone to take the picture, and P wants to play with my phone.  Lovely. :)

(As a fun side note, Eric's mom works with the newborns at the hospital where I delivered P, so she met P right after he was born!)

As it tends to go, visiting with a 20 month old doesn't allow for the most relaxing of conversations, but Sammy's an uncle, so he's a pro and rolls with the punches. :)

Again, I am so thankful that I have a loyal friend in someone like Sammy, and I pray that everyone can experience that kind of friendship in their life.  As Eric put in his e-mail, "The Hebrew is כן יהי רצון- ken yehi ratzon - may it be His will." Amen to that.