Wes and Sandy Get All Tiddly

When I got to the restaurant last evening, Wes and Sandy were already there. Sandy looked so cute with a new haircut, a gorgeous jacket and gorgeouser earrings. Wes looked like Wes. Grumpy.

Wes had been working on a martini and he actually came close to smiling. Then Sandy ordered a martini and all hell broke loose.

Sandy is five foot nothing and very petite. The martini was very large.

I ordered a glass of red wine.

I watched them get looser and looser with every sip of their drink. Sandy touched my arm and my hand any number of times and I thought we were getting just a little too uncomfortably close to an "I love you, man" moment. But no, to my relief, that didn't happen.

The first thing Wes said was, "They're gonna have to amputate my leg. There a big tumor now on the thigh bone."

Then he told me he was on palliative care. "I take hydrocodone now. At first, it knocked out the pain, but not anymore."

Then he said, "What's this about kilts?"

I had put at the bottom of my first notice for the party: "NOTE: Gentleman are kindly requested to wear kilts." Why? Because I love the sight of a man in a kilt. What's behind that sporran, baby?

Then he said, "You crack me up, kiddo."

Sandy launched into a tale of how she and a neighbor are cleaning up the can-be-should-be gorgeous back yard. There's a fabulous swimming pool and even a pool house, like a tiny Greek temple. "We're going to have parties!" she declared. "I'm determined that we're going to have people over. This is going to be a wonderful summer."

Wes mentioned my party again and said, "I may not make it, you know." And made a kckk sound, drawing his finger across his throat.

"Eeyore," I said, "Who knows what could happen in the next six months?"

As we walked out to the parking lot, Wes handed Sandy the keys to his Porsche. (Yes, the one with the blue parking badge on it!) "You drive," he said. "I'm all -" and he stuck out his tongue sideways.

And I said, "Are you guys okay to drive? Sandy?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she giggled. "I'm so glad you suggested this. We should've done it sooner."

Yes. We should have.

I watched them drive away, making sure Sandy was okay. She was.

And I thought, I hope Sandy's summer project is to draw more people into her and Wes' life. To get old friendships up and running again.