Tuesday was a mellow day with Jim at The Compound. There was a lot of sitting around the table reminiscing and making one another laugh. It was also spaghetti day (Jim’s favorite). Tim and I polished the introduction (his) and the afterword (mine) to Foolish Hearts, and it’s officially been sent to the publisher. And yet with all that cooking and book finalizing stuff, I still managed to make time to watch Breaking Dawn: Part 1 with Jim and Tom. Jim pretended that he wasn’t crying over Bella’s travails, but I know inside he was.
For many years, we’ve kept a Compound guest book. It includes photos of and brief notes from all of the visitors here. Sometimes I forget to force ask people to sign it. Such was the case when Jim visited last year, so I dragged that thing out and helped him remember what we did on his 2011 visit. Actually the guest book has proved invaluable when we say, “What year was it Jim said Greg could eat the dog-gnawed roll?” or “When was that time all the TJB writers were here and had publicity shots done and Becky’s hair looked like crap?”
In April of 1999, Jim came to Houston from his mountain in California (yes, his very own mountain!) and Steve C came from San Diego. They happened to be here on April 28, which is my late friend Steve R’s birthday and the day I always bake and decorate a cake in his memory. That day, Jim and I were listening to country music while I was cooking and baking in the kitchen. Steve C borrowed my car and left to work out at a Houston branch of his gym. When he came back, I was in the dining room. Steve joined me.
“How was the gym?” I asked.
“It didn’t really work out like I planned,” he said. “But…I did pick someone up.”
My mouth dropped open. I mean, I want to be a great hostess and all, but I don’t remember that chapter in Miss Manners about what to do when a house guest brings home a stranger he picked up at the gym. So I finally managed something like, “Uhhhh…”
And then Tim followed him into the dining room. They’d been plotting all along for him to visit from New York and managed to keep it a secret. It was the first time Jim and Tim had ever met in person, as well as the first time Steve had met Tim in person–and he had to pick him up at the airport. Steve still swears I practically pushed him through the window to get to Tim and hug him. I don’t usually like surprises, but that one was thrilling.
omg, what a great day/visit that was! I remember Garth Brooks had just finished The Dance, and you were all emotional right before Steve brought Tim in… it’s a wonder you didn’t have a breakdown.
fortunately for Steve, the arrival of Tim signaled the call for “fresh meat” to Pete, which meant Steve’s ankles got a reprieve for the rest of the visit!
good times!
it’s a wonder you didn’t have a breakdown.
As if.
Gosh, to think at that point, it hadn’t been very many years since the hard times. Time perception is a strange thing.
Good grief. Who are those youngsters in that bottom photo?
Thespians!
{S lebanese
Wow, you must have been blown over. You’re the one usually doing the surprising! The look on your face must have been priceless.
I was totally surprised. Then Tim did that to me in 2009 when Jim came for a visit–his first since 2006. I had NO idea he was flying in–I think I was still sitting at the table in my jammies in the middle of the afternoon–painting!
Ah, the dog-gnawed roll. As I was reading through these, I wondered where I’d find it.
Doing my best to keep the bitterness alive, year after year….