Jefferson, Iowa

The Shannon home

As I sit and write this, I’m 15, 000 feet in the air, returning from a great reunion in Jefferson, Iowa.

Back in March I received a beautifully written card from a dear friend that inspired this little vacation of mine. I hope everyone is lucky enough to have the kind of friend that writes letters just because and ALWAYS remembers your birthday. Is thoughtful and kind and if you need to call in the middle of the night, it’s always Ok.

Karen and I met in that other life of mine, when I lived in North Carolina. Taylor was little and she was one of the first Army girlfriends I actually enjoyed. It was a friendship destined for eternity from the first moments we spoke. In our 11 years of friendship, 1 ½ of them we have lived in the same town, actually on the same street.

She is originally from Iowa, and after her relationship with said “GI” she returned home and met her husband. I did fly out for the wedding 7 years ago (next week) and she returned the favor 4 years ago when she came to see me in Bend with her mother-in-law, Mary Kay, and baby Olivia.

Me, Mary Kay, and Karen

So, now that you have a little history, on with the story.

Allen (husband) and I have been working on our plan for months along with Mother-on-Law in the early stages. Operation “Surprise the S%$#@ out of Karen” was born and the planning began.

Let me mention that Allen is more that quiet, and is notorious for forgetting, or just not acknowledging much when it comes to holidays or celebrations. I didn’t know him well before this trip, but after our plan was successfully carried out, we are now “great friends” at least for Allen.

After a long day of flying I arrived in Des Moines, IA after my flight had been delayed two hours. (Let me say that when you trying to pull off the surprise of the century, a delayed flight is more than inconvenient.)

Allen was waiting for me at the terminal, unfortunately a little too long I’m sure. We still had an hour drive that quickly turned into two when Allen decided to take me on the “scenic” tour of Rural Iowa. Since I am such a scenic buff I actually didn’t’ mind a bit, and the extra time in the car gave us more time to get to know each other. (Did I mention I had met Allen once at the wedding?) He was actually rather chatty and I now see why Karen fell for him. He’s charming and funny, in that dry kind of way.

When we reached Jefferson, both of us tried to reach her on the phone, with no luck I might add. On to Plan B…

Head back to the house and wait?? Luckily she called Allen’s phone within 10 min. and was at the neighbors enjoying a cold beverage with the rest of the rowdy bunch. At this point I could barely contain myself. Karen called me last Tues, 3 days before I left, to try to convince me that we could not let another summer go by without getting together, Inside….I was DIEING. This was going to be absolutely perfect.

Allen went ahead, made some quick and normal conversation, while I anxiously waited along side the house. When I got my signal, I made my entrance.

I imagined every way this reunion could go down, with tears and all, and none of them were as great as the real moments. Had I only had a video camera? If Karen were a cartoon character, her eyes would have popped from her head when she saw me. It was priceless. She did the double take…stunned…throw your sunglasses from your head…rush over to me…proceed to hug me tighter than I’ve ever been hugged before…and weep. We both stood there on the back porch of her neighbors, cute craftsman bungalow hugging and weeping.

The rest of the trip was amazing; catching up and playing with her beautiful daughters. We didn’t’ do too much out of the ordinary, I just wanted to be with her. We bought matching friendship scarves, and peacock feathers for Olivia and me; I won the heart of the very stubborn and strong willed Sadie, and I think even Allen enjoyed a night or two of conversation. (And I like beer, so I was in) It was just the simple things to remember our time together. Of course my camera was always in hand, with the ridiculously adorable children she has and the lush rolling hills Iowa has to offer, I was in photography heaven.

With no more than 4000 people, Jefferson Iowa has made its claim on my heart. Maybe I’m a small town farm girl after all, or maybe it’s just the genuine people it produces. Whatever it was, it felt a little like home. Had the girls been with me, I would have been completely content to pitch my tent in the back yard until the house across the street became available: Bringing my dear friend and I full circle, back to neighbors again after all of these long years apart.

I miss the days when I could run across the street and have a cup of coffee with my friend, or sit and talk about the stupid fight we had with our significant others; a quick run to the store, or a few beers and great food at the hurricane party. She’s a keeper for life.

I will not wait another 4 years to see her again, and one day, when I make it big, I’m buying that house across the street, so we can have our coffee every morning…together.

KMS, I love you!

Some fun architecture liked

The local donut shop. Friendliest guy I have ever met. Knew the girls by name and even gave me a few tokens to take with me.