Amy and Ami were roommates in college. Ami was a bridesmaid at our wedding and vice-versa. Her husband, Jeff, is an IT guy who uses open-source software, is a beer enthusiast, plays guitar, loves folk music, and is down with the whole “emerging church” conversation. But we hit it off long before we each independently arrived at those passions. Jeff and Ami have two kids–Kiran is about Grady’s age, and Ellery is about 5 months older than Abby.
When we visited Princeton a year and a half ago, we stopped at their house to visit on the way. Yesterday we did it again–it marks the midway point from Dallas to Princeton, give or take a few hundred miles.
In the evening, we grilled burgers in Jeff and Ami’s back yard–in some amazingly temperate weather–while Grady and Kiran wore themselves silly running around playing (and relieving themselves off the “tee-tee rock”). Jeff and I exchanged our favorite beers and talked about Perl and PHP while the Mommas played with the baby girls, and talked about I know not what. As it grew darker, we chased fireflies around the yard.
Leaving their house this morning, saying goodbye (again) and getting back on the long road to New Jersey, was hard to do. But at the same time, it was nice to know that in the midst of all this life-change, there are life-friends who remain constant. Some we left behind in Texas, some will be waiting for us on the East Coast. But right now we’re especially grateful for those who provided a happy, peaceful oasis along the way.
