It's the Malbec

Malbec is a wine made on the South Western hemisphere of our planet. It's the ideal accompaniment for very old friendships.
I had dinner with Mother tonight. Joining us at table were Yvonne, Kara, and Krista. Yvonne you know from the rich and varied comments that she has graced this blog with. Kara appears here,too, from time to time. Krista is a 4 foot 11" East Coast girl who's been trapped on an island in the South pacific for some time. Krista is Kara's sister and Yvonne's eldest daughter.
We ate on the patio of my favorite restaurant. Unfortunately this was the evening for a live band to play. Are you familiar with a genre called "blue grass"? Yeah. Only in Idaho,,,or possibly the backwoods of Mississippi. They sang this one song about a near-death experience for a prostitute, and her blood-stained bible. It was hardly a dinner ballad.
But the dinner was really good.
And the conversation was wonderful.
There are not that many people with whom one has 30+years of memories. We have that, though. Our lives have paralleled and intersected, either through direct interaction or through family whisperings for more than three decades. You can't turn your back for a moment on people like that.
Mother drinks wine from a box now and then. This was discussed and length and the source of much hilarity. I was elected to chose the wine, thus the Malbec.
Krista is a wine snob like me. Plus she's really funny. She pulled out her wallet to show off photos. Of herself. We laughed so hard we couldn't draw breath. I don't think she saw the humor in it.
Kara and I are trying to get our mothers to take us to Europe with them when they go. They aren't convinced. Kara and I have it all figured out. It would involve them paying for us.
My Mother is convinced that she's shy and mellow. A fact easily refuted by two seconds in her company. This was another source of uproarious hilarity.
There was lots of funny stuff. A few sad moments. Stories. History.
We all told stories, and laughed, and amused ourselves fairly well. My abdominal muscles are sore from the experience.
Some family can only be gained through time.
We're family.
And I love these women.