Weekend of The 3's

This past week "The 3's" gathered at the Baton Rouge home of our friends the Smith's.  As you may recall, there were four couples of us who had been friends since all of them (except me) were in college together back in the early 60's.

Wayne and I have known each other since we were children, so we had that connection.  Everyone was a music major except Wayne and I.  Our joint friendships developed through everyone's personal involvement in the Louisiana Baptist State Music programs.  We traveled to conferences together, camped together, did state-wide and convention music programs, and our seven children grew up being friends as well.

Due to moves out of state and life in general taking over, we lost our connection through the years.

In 2017, we all met up for lunch and the reuniting began.  Since that time, we have made it our mission to get together at least once a year.  We did that as four couples until the passing of Nancy this year.  Then Wayne designated us "The 3's," and that is sadly what we have become.

As Wayne was visiting his children in another state, he was unable to join us for our most recent get-together this past weekend.  We decided once a year was not enough any more, because we never know when it might be the last time for one or more of us.

Isn't it unfortunate when we take our special moments with family and friends for granted?  We tend to think those opportunities for sharing love and memories and new experiences will last forever.  But, they never do.

I told you we would definitely eat well because Vicki is a wonderful cook.  Dinner Thursday night was a typical "Southern" menu with squash casserole, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, rice and gravy with roast, with home-made rolls.  I didn't get a picture because I was much too busy enjoying this delicious fare to think about anything else.

We enjoyed our early Friday morning on the patio overlooking the pecan orchard expanse of the their backyard.  Rain from Storm Hannah was headed our way, so we loved the glimpses of sunshine through the trees.  And yes, it was a very humid and muggy 80 degrees at 8 a.m. in Baton Rouge.

Friday morning breakfast was perfect because we knew we would be eating better than we should for lunch.

We had breakfast banana splits (minus the Blue Bell ice cream) with lots of berries on bananas topped with nuts, granola, and yogurt.

Healthy, tasty and pretty is a perfect combination.

Lunch time found us about an hour southeast, nearer New Orleans than Baton Rouge at Manchac where we ate fish prepared in several ways.  Their specialty is thin fried catfish and all I can say about that is, it must be tried to believe how good it is.

The storm hit and we were unable to walk outside and enjoy the sights and sounds from the Manchac River and resident animals there.  However, the drive in the rain was well worth it for the renowned food.

Friday night we sat around the table playing games and eating popcorn with chocolates.

 Before we reluctantly went our separate ways Saturday morning, we had one more delicious meal together.  This Cinnamon Roll dish was as easy to prepare as it was good to eat.

Simply cut 2 rolls of Cinnamon Roll Dough into quarters and mix with a can of Apple Pie Filling, and chopped walnuts then bake at 350 until done.

We served it with our left-over berries and yogurt.

After we had devoured most of it, we remembered Vicki's special cream sugar topping she had made.  Needless to say, it was good even without it.

A few years ago, Vicki and Marvin's home was totally destroyed by flooding waters.  After it was rebuilt I painted this linen canvas for her to remind them that God's mercies are new every morning.  I loved seeing it again hanging in their home.

We are grateful for our time together as The 3's but still desperately miss when we could have been called "The 4."