Gratitude Friday 10 11 24 Peach Potato Pie

We are coming up on a very important day in history, the observance of the birth date of Julie Miller, for whom I have a myriad of terms of endearment, including the title of this Gratitude Friday post. My soul mate with whom I have walked beside for more than half my life. The person who has been with me through thick and thin, through good times and challenging moments. Julie has immense talents and a one-of-a-kind radiant smile. My very best moments in life have been spent with her. How often do we think about such things?  I am deeply grateful for her! Some highlights so far:

·       Helping her move that first time. I happened to be (briefly) living with her ex. He had a pickup truck. She was moving and needed help, so I agreed to help a stranger. The declined money. The first date and dinner sealed the deal for me, initiated in part because we had read the same book. Her ex did not read so she gave me a chance.

·       Julie playing Pictionary with her friend Lisa is which a line drawn slowly on a piece of paper elicited the correct answer “meadow” on the first guess. Uncanny and just plain unexplainable.

·       Her work to make art mirrors for her sisters on our first Christmas and how she always, always works to make holidays and get together special for everyone, which she consistently pulls off.

·       Celebrating NYE with a dear friend Marc, long gone far too early in life with a meal at our favorite Thai restaurant of the era, also long gone and standing in the middle of Broad and Center in Bethlehem PA shouting in the new year.

·       Climbing up the white cliffs of Étretat France to see Julie and her dad sitting on a bench watching the sunset over Normandy in one of the most peaceful moments of a lifetime.  

·       Our first ever vacation, to Cape Cod and our discovery of Wellfleet, the place we were with family years later on the week of 911 and how fortunate we were on that later date to be with our people during those difficult days. I recall the nights we lay on the roof deck looking at the stars and wondering what new world we were now in, together.

·       Dancing in a puddle in a thunderstorm in front of our first modest apartment together in Bethlehem.

·       Our small wedding at the Sun Inn and then honeymoon in Scotland, driving on the wrong side of the road and trying to make out the English language of the Scottish dialect. Pictish runes, standing stones and so many swallows!

·       Witnessing her be honored as the student of the year at Thomas Jefferson University and then celebrating together at the Caribou Café with bread pudding.

·       Hundreds and hundreds of delectable dinners and dining room conversations with families and friends over all of the years together. Everyone of them prepared to perfection. Such nights, in our home of over a quarter century, are some of the fondest moments for me, made so by Julie and her planning, preparation and flawless execution.

·       Clanging pots and pans with music blaring on many a July 4th to keep our dogs calm as the salvos of fireworks start at dusk and continuing to dawn in the City Without Limits, Allentown PA.

·       Being by her side when she went through donating her kidney to her dad, which gave us all 11 more years with him. I was the first family member to see them both post op, she looked like she got beat up and he looked healthy and full of life. After this her dad would joke, he knew then why he had kids - so that he could harvest their organs. This memory includes 11 additional birthdays with her father, who remains one of the finest humans I have ever met.

·       Jambon & Fromage on baguettes with family as we trekked to the top of Mont Saint Michel in Normandy France.

·       That nearly tragic birthday party for me. Friends could not find birthday candles, so they put sparklers on the cake. We were able to extinguish the tablecloth before a serious fire started, which was my sole wish in that moment.

·       Having Mr. Tweaks, the most special pup of all time “show me” where Julie was. I would wish for one more show me of where Julie is hiding with that very special being.

·       Trapsing around Campobello Island in our trusty footgear, listening to good music and eating lots of Lobster.

·       Have the public see her artwork at festivals, including the Philadelphia Folk Fest, braving thunderstorms, high winds, bugs and heatwaves. Worth it all to see people experience her talents, which also can be found at HV Studios.

·       Walking around Cadillac Mountain with the whole Miller clan on a summer day so clear you could see the earth curve, Mt Katahdin to the North and realizing what a perfect moment it was in our lives.

·       So many concerts. KD Lang, Ryan Adams, Maria Mckee, her favorite, Shawn Colvin, my favorite Jason Isbell and most recently and for the first time Shovels and Rope, which if the cards are with us will not be the last.

·       Clambering along the rocky Maine coast, often on an annual basis. We can’t quite balance rock to rock as we did in the early days, but we still find a rocky coast checks our box. May we see many new rocky coasts, together.

Forgive me the jaunt down memory lane. I would however recommend the exercise. We have good lives. Yes, we have had pain and loss and rough patches but if I am counting my gratitude’s, I would be remiss to not count the minutes I get to spend with Julie, AKA Peach Potato Pie as among my finest.

What are you grateful for today?