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| Welcome to our beautiful valley! |
Through some serendipitous unlikelihood I was invited to share six days of my life with two other fellow bloggers. These are people I had never been acquainted with before. I only knew them online. It was a risk to say the least. When a fellow Portland blogger, Galen Pearl, suggested that we should invite fellow blogger Bob Lowry and his wife to come and visit our beautiful city, I didn't hesitate at all. I knew Bob from his blog and it is funny how reading another person's words almost daily will make you feel as though you know them. I knew Galen from her blog and her personal description in the sidebar. It wasn't until my husband and I were dropping Bob and his wife to pick up a car rental at the end of their visit that I realized what a chance we had all taken. Bob traveled from Phoenix on a plane and left his life in our hands. Galen and I visited over tea and came up with an itinerary and the rest is history. I am still amazed.
So the meeting new friends risk has been on my mind for the last few days. What was it about the three of us that made this work? Galen is a world traveler, a college professor in a past life. She is smart, articulate and well loved by her circle of commenting friends. Bob is a retired radio consultant in private business for many years. He has built his blog in just a few years and is very well known and successful at this venture. His wife is an educated graphic artist. My husband is a retired school administrator and I am a blog writer that spent the last few years of her working career teaching kindergartners. We are very different yet I think the fact that we took the gamble on friendship and the risk paid off for us tells something about us. Taking a risk is just part of our personalities. Maybe that is why we found so much to talk about. We are three very lucky people.
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I am a bit jealous!
ReplyDeleteGlad you all got together.
Our time in Portland with you, Earl, and Galen was absolutely tremendous. After just a handful of days Betty and I feel like you: we have made new, lifelong friends who share so much more than just words on a blog.
ReplyDeleteWe have fallen in love with Portland, primarily because we saw it through the eyes of people who live there and are excited to show it to others. As I type this we are on the coast, near Newport, enjoying the clouds and ocean waves. Tomorrow we head to another part of the state to visit with another couple met through blogging: Bill and Wendy Birnbaum.
This was one of the best "risks" we have ever taken. Thank you for opening your heart and home to us.
How wonderful for all of you to have be able to meet up!!!
ReplyDeleteThis experience will be one of the best highlights of this summer. I just wish that you could have been there Janette. You would have had so much fun.
ReplyDeleteDebby, thank you for stopping by. I love to have your comments. Yes it was wonderful for us all.
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Barbara, I really enjoyed reading your perspective on our time together. I had not thought about it in terms of risk, but when I read your post, I understood exactly what you meant. It was a risk that paid off many times over! What fun I had with you and Earl, and Bob and Betty. Can't wait for our next visit.
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