Friday, November 5, 2010

Tombstone, Arizona -- I love you!

My friend, KC, is celebrating her 9th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Normally, I don't remember such significant events like this but it is also an anniversary for me, too.  Toasting to her impending marriage vows the following day, we drank champagne and had some good laughs and it's the last time I drank alcohol (although in recent years I saw a photo & it's possible I had a drink the next day after the wedding when we went to dinner at the local restaurant but I don't get too bogged down in that detail ~ close enough is good enough). Regardless, I can't reflect about my 9 years of sobriety without thinking about the beginning of it, which happened in Tombstone, AZ.

Dad and I had traveled over to Elfrida, AZ and parked out at a ranch. We had a grand time while there.  I have a photo of myself up on a horse but I cannot remember if I actually rode the horse or if I just sat on it for the picture. I've never been around horses and have a healthy fear of them.  We listened to Caroline's beau at the time tell us about the illegals destroying the fences just about every night and how he'd have to go out and repair them.

We traveled to Bisbee, Arizona (love that little town, too) the day before the wedding to visit the courthouse and get KC signed up for marriage! I have a photo of her, Caroline and myself standing on the courthouse steps. It was a happy day!  We ended up in Tombstone for the wild, wild west wedding and I was so happy to see my friend do the deal.

I've been back to Tombstone twice since then.  Once when Gene & I rode the Goldwing over and again when his daughter came to visit us one December. We took the old Escort over, forgetting we didn't have heat and nearly froze to death on the trip home.

I love Tombstone for a lot of reasons. It was a happy beginning for my friend, and it was a happy beginning for me, too.  I loved going back there later with Gene, visiting the site of the gunfight at the OK Corral, etc. You can't go there without standing there and imagining what it must have been like in the old days. Going in December was an eye opener for me. It had to have been tough living there as it does get bone-chilling cold.

Well, I'm off to start another awesome Friday.  KC, you're on my mind today and I'll be raising a glass of orange juice in your honor!  Love ya!  Susan

3 comments:

  1. Ah.....that was right neighborly of you!! It was a fun day and your presence made it all the more special. It was also the last time I've seen you! Isn't it amazing that 9 years can pass that fast??

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  2. That December trip to Tombstone was a hoot..What I liked the best was that the town put on a little thing after dark where they pass out cookies.. I thought it was a fundraiser and started to get out my wallet to buy some cookies and the gal said, "heck no" this is just what we do at Christmas time.. They had a fire truck, probably the towns only fire truck ... and had the lights on and were letting kinds climb up into it and such.. it was really neat the "community" in that community. It is a pretty desolate area, and most folks there depend on the tourists for a job, which tails off to trickle in the heat of summer, if it doesn't dry up altogether. Very hardy and friendly folks.

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