Special things that people do.

 How blest I am to have such good friends.

 I have two wonderful friends that I call my brothers .Larry I met whilst doing a TESOL course in Canada having in mind to teach English and travel at the same time.My hopes were to teach in Peru giving me the chance to see Machu Pichu and to learn Spanish . But as you can see here I am in Mexico living and working my creation. Sometime elapsed before I saw Larry again but we were to meet up in all places Progresso located north of Merida on the Gulf coast. The Tesol course I took offered a practicum in their school in Progresso so I decided to take the time of three weeks to gain a little experience before embarking on my new adventure When I arrived in the hotel that was used to accommodate the students the first person I saw sitting munching on his evening dinner was Larry.Our friendship took off from this point.

 I ended up returning to Ticul to teach English and Larry stayed in Progresso also teaching. In between times Larry met his partner Reg and they cemented their union through marriage.

 When they first came out to see the project that I was building I could tell by their faces that they were not quite sure what I was doing or maybe I was a little crazy. But they never said anything nor even tried to discourage me . They just stood quietly aside .When I opened the first stage ,being the restaurant , they supported me wholeheartedly . The second Christmas and the following two they arranged christmas dinners at the pickled onion for a group of ex-pats . lots of work for me but it was a success,

 One day ,after a nearly a year of work I received a phone call from Larry asking me what size of a freezer would fit in the store room space. Not sure , I said.But off I went to measure it.Then I asked for what reason Larry? We are in Costco right now and we have decided that you need a freezer so we are going to buy one and bring it down as your Christmas present !Oh O K still not sure of what I was hearing.Within two hours they were at the restaurant door rolling in a freezer. No words could express the overwhelming gesture that these two men were doing for me.

 They have held me when I cried and believe me if people knew what I had been through to get to this place it would read like a horror story….. maybe one day I will write about that part too. They supported me , listened to me, laughed along with me and much much more! Their kindness and support would take me a million years to return.

 The latest incident of kindness just passed this weekend . The middle of last year I was building a new Palapa and it needed some kind of decoration on the walls so I took up a brush and easel and started to paint . I had painted a little over 45 years ago so really it was like starting again at the beginning but I never really did get passed the beginning stage all those years ago. Larry and Reg came down to visit over night and I had just finished another painting that was in the restaurant ready to go to the local carpenter to be framed. Reg took one look and said I’ll buy that Valerie ! But Reg the paint is not even dry yet, laughing. He opened his wallet showing me he only had small bills and one large one… Oh that’s O K Reg Ill take the large one! They took it home with them and were going to take it to their favourite framing place. Yesterday they came by for another overnighter with a friend so that they could show her Uxmal. We greeted and Reg said we have brought your birthday present early I hope you like it. As I whisked around there I saw my picture in the most beautiful frame.I became utterly speechless ,gobsmacked(English expression,slang of course) Not only that, as I looked at the painting I really could not believe I had done it………………..Certainly for me it was a  special moment  and an unexpected delightful happening . But this is the way my brothers work not only for me do they do the unexpected but I have heard lots of good things they have done for others .I love you guys! So when you drop by the Pickled Onion you will see it hung up in the restaurant . A great reminder for me of how my brothers are special to me . .

Kip Cho bird... squirrel cuckoo