Two Loveland girlfriends continue to be a part of my life forty years later! I continue with my Women’s History Month focus. We meet once a month on Zoom, and yesterday we met and I interviewed them for this blog post! Here they are: Lynn Hafer and Sherrie Crandal!
Loveland Friend, Lynn Hafer
Lynn and I met in 1979 when my first husband and I moved to Loveland, Colorado. She worked at a real estate office part time and greeted us warmly. She worked full time as a lab tech. Being hospitable, Lynn asked us about any church affiliation. We told her we had already connected with the priest at All Saints, the Episcopal church there. Excited, she said, “That’s where I go!” And from then on, I saw her weekly and our friendship grew.
Later that year, my first husband and I planned a trip to Mexico, and because of her extensive travel experience, Lynn guided us in our first international trip and a second one later—wise suggestions that helped me a lot then and I continue to use to this day.
After my first divorce, Lynn and I became travel partners, venturing to the Mexican Yucatan peninsula several times. From my first sight of Mayan ruins, I was hooked! After our trips to several sites there—Cobá, Chicken Itza, and Tulum, we decided to visit the biggest Mayan ruin in Guatemala in Tikal which was our last international trip!
That trip turned out to be a trip of a lifetime! On the first leg of the trip, we flew into Guatemala City and caught a boat out to Cay Caulker to spend a relaxing week on the island, snorkeling and enjoying the tropical setting. Then we rode the Batty Brothers Bus service from Guatemala City to catch a plane to Tikal. The oversized ruins overwhelmed the jungle and delighted us so.
(This afternoon, I grabbed my photo album of our Guatemala trip and would have shared more photos, but the snow has blocked our StarLink connection and I can’t scan them!)
After each trip, we came home with hilarious stories and experiences, like the time we added an ex-nun and ex-priest who married to our entourage to go see Chicken Itza. At that time, Mexico had a gas shortage, and he tried to help us siphon some gas and sucked on the hose too hard and ingested gas—Ugh!
During our first trip to Mexico, Lynn taught me how to compromise. We ended up at Playa del Carmen when we thought we were going to be in Cancun. Some experienced travelers advised us to rent a car in Cancun and enjoy that side of the peninsula, so we did! I desperately wanted to go Chicken Itza, but we had received some advice from locals not to drive the “short cut” there because of “the banditos,” but we were running out of time. The longer route would take more time. Lynn showed me how to weigh the pros and cons, to be honest about what I wanted and to compromise! I had never experienced anything like that in my young life (I was about 28-30 years old at the time).
On our last trip in 1990, we did a “Tony Hillerman” tour of Arizona and New Mexico, camping out at the Grand Canyon and Canyon de Chelly. What a time we had!
Yesterday, Lynn shared a story about me talking in my sleep on many of our trips, but sited one particular event. I raised up in bed and told her there was someone in the room. She told me no there wasn’t and to go back to sleep—and I did!
Lynn has two sons, and I have been especially close to her youngest, Chris, who joined our conversation yesterday!
Lynn and I stayed connected over the years with her a regular at two of my weddings: to Mike in 1992 and to Lin in 2011 when she was one of my bride maids. In 2011, we introduced Lynn to square dancing at our wedding and she went home and started lessons!
When Lynn joined me in Branson, Colorado, it was always a treat and Mom loved her dearly. Over the years, I stopped in at her home in Loveland traveling with my ex-husband and his family, with Mom on a couple of trips and with Lin! Lynn’s hospitality always welcomed me back.
Loveland Friend, Sherrie Crandal
In 1982, I went back to school at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado to become a teacher. I bought a mobile home with two extra bedrooms. My God provided me with the best roommates in Sherrie Crandal and her son, Aaron that year.
We met at All Saints Episcopal church and became fast friends. Not having children, I wondered about taking in a woman with a youngster as a roommate. It turned out to be an amazing blessing.
Christmas 1982, I had strep throat really bad, and we planned to go home to Branson. So, Sherrie drove, and I watched a horrible snowstorm following us down the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The storm hit after we arrived, so we celebrated a beautiful, white Christmas. Dad thoroughly enjoyed taking them out on the ranch in the snow.
Sherrie remembered all the food Mom had prepared for just us! And I remember Sherrie getting up Christmas Eve morning and making a Christmas Tree Coffee Cake to die for!
She reminded me of a party I hosted with my international friends from the university with no alcohol and what a great time it was!
Sherrie and Aaron stayed with me for about two years, and this living arrangement helped us both financially and emotionally. I was recently divorced and hurting. They were new to Loveland, and being a single mom, she needed the financial help too. Sherrie and Aaron repeatedly filled my home with love and laughter. They went to Branson with me to visit my folks, and we enjoyed dancing at Branson dances. They left Loveland in 1990 for Arizona to live near her mother.
When I married Mike in 1992, Sherrie and Aaron came from Arizona to the wedding in Albuquerque, but we lost contact for almost thirty years. I sent her my yearly Christmas letter and card, but we had no conversations about major life events.
During those absent thirty years, Sherrie got her teaching degree in early childhood development and a masters degree in special education.
Then the pandemic hit! Because Lin and I took the shelter-in-place mandate seriously, we isolated here in our mountain home. The isolation set me to thinking about key people in my life I had lost contact with, and Sherrie came to mind. So, I emailed her about doing a Zoom meeting.
After our first one, which was full of ohs and ahs about our lives, we added Lynn Hafer and the three of us have met monthly since 2020! During each gathering, we updated each other on our lives. We laugh a lot. We share titles of books we’re reading, and we love each other.
I’ve known both of these amazing women for over forty years. Yesterday, when they were sharing stories about our lives together for this blog, we laughed—I grabbed my face and shrieked at some of those memories I had forgotten. Forty years, they have known me and loved me.
Finally, Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you! I hope you celebrated your Irish heritage today, even if you have none! And remember to celebrate all of your friends, especially those who have known you through thick and thin, like my two Loveland girlfriends!
I’m in 4th place in the third round! I’m getting closer to clinch the “Cover of the Month” contest on AllAuthor! I need as much support from you guys as possible. Please take a short moment to vote for my book cover here: https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/17423/
Enjoy my recent interview on the podcast, The Writing Table
~ Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir available in audiobook format at the following places:
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