This week I was wine tasting with my best friend. We had entered a winery that I had never been in before. As the wine educator behind the bar began to pour our tastings I noticed a well dressed couple next to me. They seemed a bit quiet and reserved. Being in a festive mood, I greeted them and asked where they were from. The woman and man turned toward me and she replied “from Connecticut”. They were well dressed and had clothes that worked in layers with sweaters tied around their necks. A look most tourists sport when visiting the area due to the many micro climates.
I asked if they were visiting for pleasure or work. They looked down and and sighed. As the woman looked up to me I saw pain in her eyes. She told me that she and her husband were here to sit hospice with their best friend and her husband. Originally they were to come out here on November 2nd because the husband at the winery was to share his 65th birthday with the wife that was ill. In fact, they told me, she died yesterday and the funeral is Thursday. “We needed a break and a change of environment for a little bit, so we decided to go wine tasting.”
Worried about them, I asked if they had eaten because one of my favorite restaurants was right down the road. The woman told me she was sick of fine dinning. They had been doing that every night so that the husband of the deceased would eat. Today she shared, she was so happy because she and her husband had found Sonic burger and each had a hamburger and fries!
The last part of our conversation is what made me want to share this with you. I asked her how long they had all been friends, and she told me since college. I told her it was remarkable that they had flown in and spent every day for two weeks by the bedside of their dying friend. She told me that they were also by her side as she passed. She told me that in friendship, you do what is needed for your friend. Their friend and her husband needed them to be with them during this time. She admitted that it had been a very difficult thing to do and that it was very emotional. Yet she was glad to have done it. Her husband agreed, he was sad that he would have to celebrate his 65th birthday without his birthday friend.
We walked out of the winery together. On the top of the hill among the grapevines we actually introduced ourselves proper. I explained that I was with my best friend that day. The woman told me that according to her friendship handbook that we must always be there for each other. I gave her a hug. Thanked her for her story and thanked her for inspiring me to be an even better person and friend. As I drove away from the winery I shared the story with my friend who had not heard it. As I told it I began to cry. What an amazing friendship those four people shared!
Life can get busy and we can get distracted. What I learned this week is to make sure I make those that I love my priority.