Surprise

2005-2-6 04:34:00

My Friends,

I'll have to let you in on a pleasant surprise I had this Saturday evening.

My wife told me that her daughter and her fiance wanted to take me out to dinner for my birthday and we were to meet them at a local restaurant.

When we walked in Artie pretended that the two hadn't shown up yet and we were ushered in the back to our seats. As we went into a separate dining room I found that that she had arranged the first surprise party I have ever had in my life. There, sitting before me, were local Keysters, Artie's daughter and fiance plus a number of my best friends, including Wayne. I was particularly pleased to see him as he has been fighting for his life the last couple months and just managed to get checked out of the hospital a few hours earlier.

We had a great time. The only thing that could have made it better was if more of you lived close by and could have come.

The greatest gift was just the presence of my friends, but there were two gifts given that we may be able to make use of in various ceremonies at gatherings and other events.

The first was a bell given by Lorraine. It has a beautiful ring to it.

The second was a beautiful sword given by Bryan and Melva. It has the name Excalibur written on it and looks every bit as good as the swords of the knights in the movies.

I think I'll bring both of these items to the next gathering. We should get pictures of the sword there so we can post them on the web with group pictures. Then everyone can get a good look at it.

James and Suzie Wong and Blayne and his wife were also there as well as a number of friends. All were appreciated and I received more gifts than I deserve.

When you think of it, what is heaven except to be surrounded with friends and loved ones who have your best interests at heart?

On another note, as some of you know, I have been doing a podcast. Podcasting is the new wave which is the next step in evolution of the Blog. A Podcast is like a mini radio show broadcast in MP3 format that uses software that the user can download and automatically load the podcasts into his ipod or MP3 player. I think I mentioned to you earlier that my first podcasts are of the Texas Gathering in approximately ten minute segments. I plan on podcasting all the gatherings and then creating some more audios.

I hope you check this out. Go to Texas Gathering and click on the first link which will take you to the podcast details.

We must always have old memories and young hopes. Arsene Houssaye