She would have been 70 today...

VI
Hiawatha's Friends

Hiawatha; a poem,
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,1807-1882 .

Two good friends had Hiawatha,
Singled out from all the others,
Bound to him in closest union,
And to whom he gave the right hand
Of his heart, in joy and sorrow; ...




When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight

Kahlil Gibran

Bobbie, my dear friend would have been 70 today. We met when she was a few months shy of 27 and I was 21. From that summer on we had so many wonderful years of adventures together. Cancer may have dimmed her earthly her light, but it still shines brightly for all who love her, forever.

This photograph was taken in front of her parent's house in Denver, Colorado. We had driven cross country in her Saab station wagon (you can see it packed for the return trip to Massachusetts) after my college graduation from Wheelock. It was my first long road trip(we were on a rest break, with a tripod shot, I jumped into the photo) and first trip out west. I was bowled over by the expanse of the USA and the Rockies. The friendly western folks and her family, it was all different from the New England reserve I grew up with. Her dad was a liquor salesman/ regional distributer and the Cadillac was his company car!!! You cannot imagine how many people asked for free samples at every stop sign or traffic light! It was a bright and huge beast of a thing.

I had a brand new Ricoh TLS 401 SLR, a graduation gift and I took slides in those days. I thought about the trip yesterday and pulled out these gems to honor Bobbie on her 70th birthday.

For the Record,
This day came in cold and rainy, a long stretch of it predicted.