Karen
“Tannis, do you remember eating coconut cake at 28th and Ankeny and the delicious coffee that we drank there? Oh! My God! That was the best coconut cake in the world. I just drove by that bakery after eating a wonderful, beautiful, fresh, delicious, raw salad because I don’t eat the best coconut cake anywhere, anymore because… because I’m getting old, and I don’t want to drag around this big ass butt anymore. But Oh! My God! Just going by that place and thinking about that coconut cake and spending time out with you. Oh! My God!”

Tannis
“It was yummy. That is Joe’s favorite cake. I don’t crave sweet things at all but the memory of that and the wonderful days of talking and drinking good coffee… I want it back.”

Karen
“Me too, honey.

I don’t know… but regardless of how the kids complain about the way that they were raised, they… and me and you have had wonderful lives. And once the kids were gone, we still had fun together and after our divorces we still had fun. Oh, how we enjoyed going out for coffee and talking and talking and talking. I don’t think we could even count how many wonderful turkey sandwiches we ate… how many pieces of coconut cake. We cried until our eyes ached; we laughed at nothing… at ourselves, at each other; we grumbled about injustice, inequality and inequities and stuff we could not change; we rejoiced at small victories and told innumerable secrets and kept them secret by our promises.

You were and still are my treasure, my most precious friend. My memories are full of you and oh, how we kept each other strong when we thought we might die of anguish. What patience we had and forgiveness we gave so freely, though rare but deep were the offenses. We healed, with profound love, the too painful wounds of broken hearts. We helped each other to stand when we most wished to die in the gutter of our sorrows.

And now dear friend, we age. And though our images do not reflect the beauty of yesterday, our eyes shine like hard, glassy obsidian… razor sharp, indestructable because we have survived fire, ice and time and have done so together.

We still have years my lovely friend to love each other until death do us part from this earth. I lay me down tonight grateful for the unbelievable love, never-ending compassion and pure empathy that you have given me during these past 40+ years.

Tannis Hanson, McKee, Henry, you mean more to me than gold and even my life. Our memories will last forever… as long as our souls shall live.”