Laughing friends...

I have the privilege almost every day of posting a blog written by Dr. Virgil R. Trout.  He has been a minister for over sixty years and our friend for most of that time.  Robert meet him at church camp when he was only twelve and I first met Virgil and Gwen in Albuquerque when I was seventeen and a freshman at the University of New Mexico.  They are some of the dearest people we have ever know.  

This picture was taken the last time we had one of our "laughing lunches" and we are long past due.  I know some of you are saying, "what are 'laughing friends?"  Well....let me tell you. 

In 1994 I wrote a book called 101 Ways To Enjoy Life's Simple Pleasures.  In that book I wrote this article called "Laughing Friends."  It was about Virgil and Gwen and this is what it said:

"Friends are one of the great blessings of life.  They are there when you need them.  They listen and share and care, and if they have to, they step on your toes to help you stay on target. And some are laughing friends. 

Our laughing friends are Virgil and Gwen.  We have known them most of our lives and we know a lot about each other.  Maybe that is why it is so easy to laugh together.  They know why we do all the weird things that we do. 

When times get challenging, we call Virgil and Gwen.  We live ninety miles apart now, but that doesn't matter.  We make arrangements to meet and we have dinner and laugh.  They are so easy to laugh with.  That makes them very precious to us."

This article is just as true today as it was when I wrote it almost 20 years ago - with the exception of the mileage.  They are one of the greatest blessings of our life and we have been through a lot together.  They are always there to listen, to laugh, to cry and sometimes to just sit and hold our hands.  

It just doesn't get any better than that.   We love you guys....