Remembering George

This afternoon we attended a " Meeting of Friends/Celebration of Life gathering" for our friend, George Hemphill. We met George when we came to the RGV in 2008 at a square dance, and we danced with him and Zeta for the next few years, until Zeta succumbed to cancer and then George had health issues that kept him from dancing.

We did stay in touch with George, because he regularly joined our Sunday morning breakfast group. He was quite a character, outgoing and a bit quirky. He always wore his western hat. One of the wait staff at Mi Challitas, Jessica, would take his hat and wear it around the restaurant while George ate and bring it back when he was ready to leave. George enjoyed flirting with the young ladies. A year ago, he moved to an assisted living facility, where he got three meals a day, so we hadn't seen him for a while, but our friends Hardy and Judy and Steve and Jan were still in touch with him.

The gathering today was well attended. George's son Rick and his stepson Jamey talked about their dad. We learned a lot we hadn't known about our friend. Some of the people in attendance volunteered their thoughts and memories too. Our friend Jim Booth is a strong Ohio State fan, and George (who lived in Eugene, Oregon) was a great Ducks fan. They had a friendly rivalry and bet on the games. What was at stake was wearing the winning team's tee-shirt to two square dances. George ended up hating that Ohio State shirt!

[photos later]

After the gathering Steve and Jan joined us at Costco. They are Sam's Club members and were curious about Costco. They were impressed by the selection and the wide clean aisles. We got our favorite La Brea Bakery bread and some other groceries and headed home for dinner.