A BLAST TO THE PAST

From the time we first met in the mid 1970's, Patty and I were living in Los Banos, and later Jamestown, both in Central California.  Over the next 25 years, we got to know lots of people, and a few remain as treasured friendships.  Two of those very special friends are Bruce & Karen Pryor, who we visited with yesterday at their home in Ripon.  Karen fixed us a nice lunch, and as we reminisced about the "good ole days", before we knew it, 4 hours had passed in what seemed like an instant.

When we moved from Jamestown to Lake Havasu in 2002, Bruce & Karen were right there, even making the trip with us to Arizona.  You don't forget things like that, and when they later relocated from Manteca to Lake Don Pedro, I made a point of riding the Harley back to CA, so I could help them with their move.  We both enjoyed our visit, and thanks for a great lunch!

It was about 4pm when we headed over to Art & Linda Mitchell's home in Modesto, where we spent a few hours with our friends, and former business partners.  Their son A.J. was also home, and it's always a treat to spend time with this amazing young man who has spent his entire life in a wheelchair.  Born with Spina bifida, A.J. has overcome many obstacles, and at just under 30 years of age, he's training to participate in a half marathon.  Linda had to leave for a prior commitment, but we got to spend some quality time with her before she left.  We stayed a little longer, visiting with Art & A.J. before we headed back to Atwater as it was starting to get dark.  As often happens, I forgot to use the camera during our visit.

Generally speaking, business partnerships don't usually work over the long haul, and I'm sure that just about everybody has heard horror stories about partnerships that have gone bad.  When Art & I decided to move forward on a partnership to build, and open a brand new Harley-Davidson Dealership in the mid 90's, I went into that business arrangement with my eyes wide open, knowing that more often than not, partnerships usually don't work.  Fortunately, for a lot of reasons I won't get into here, this particular partnership DID work. After we retired from the business in 2001, we ended the business arrangement, but emerged as better friends than when the whole thing started.  Co-owning, and running a successful business for over 6 years was a highlight in our lives, and we will always be grateful to Art & Linda for opening that door.