Breakfast With The Thalimers

Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003 - 5:49 a.m.

Monday morning, I woke up of my own accord, and looked owlishly at the alarm clock in my Yachtboy. It was about a quarter to five in the morning. I had set my alarm to go off at five thirty, but I thought that since I was awake anyway, I'd have more time to get ready before it was time to go and meet Todd and Heidi Thalimer. So I made my usual rounds here in Diaryland, and posted something for Solstice. We were to drive to Sacramento and meet them at an IHoP that was near I 80, so they would be able to get back to their drive home. We were their last stop in California before they hit the road to go home to Colorado. Originally they'd proposed coming to San Francisco, but the thought of them coming into the city during the morning rush hour even during the week before Christmas just didn't sit well with us, so we offered to drive up to meet them.

I showered and got ready, and John was up soon after. We dressed warmly for the expected tule fog, I packed the laptop and the new little camera, and we got on the road by around 7:30.

The fog turned out not to be too awful -- and neither was the traffic -- in fact, the traffic going east on 80 was nearly non existent -- so we got to Sacramento shortly before 9:30. We found the IHoP, pulled into the rear of the parking lot, went into the restaurant, and were shown to a booth that afforded us a good view of the front door.

In less than five minutes after we got there, I looked out the window, and saw them pull in. It was all I could to to stay seated until they came in. Heidi saw us first and when she and Todd rounded the corner and came to the booth, I finally got to hug my online friend for the first time.

I'd seen pictures of Todd for awhile, and we had waved and smiled at each other on the cam on and off since spring -- but to finally meet him in person was absolutely breathtaking.

There are friends and then there are Friends. Friends, with the capital F, are the unobtrusive cornerstones that just sort of become part of your existence until one day you find that you are better because of knowing them. Todd seems to have become that for me, and I'm not even quite sure when it happened. All I can do is just be glad of it.

The four of us settled in to the booth and our waitress, Becky, took our order. We ate and exchanged pleasantries, and by the time the meal was finished, the four of us felt like wholly congenial friends who all have known each other for years. John has been paralytically protective of me due to what I went through earlier in the year, so the fact that he was comfortable with Todd almost instantaneously was something that was a pleasant surprise.

Finally it was time for the Thalimers to get going. Heidi stepped outside to deal with the dogs that they were travelling with, and John went and paid the check. I reached across the booth table and took Todd's hands and told him how happy I was to finally be meeting him, and that I was so glad we had been able to do this.

We went outside and discovered that we'd parked right next to each other in the back of the restaurant's parking lot. I got to meet both of the Thalimer dogs, Mo, the Keeshond, and Katy the Pomeranian. They were both quiet and well behaved, although Mo was more vocal, and was almost able to say "I love you" when prompted by Heidi to do so.

Meanwhile, Becky, our waitress, had stepped out of the rear of the restaurant for a break, and saw the same four people she'd just waited on, as the pictures were being taken, and spoke up. "If y'all like, I can take a picture of the four of you," she offered. Heidi handed her the camera and showed her how to take the picture, and it's on the Thalimer's camera.

Todd turned and dug around in the car and then handed a pair of burned CDs to me -- upon which resided the audio portion of the Erasure concert he attended in Dallas. I'm not getting into any details of how he managed to procure this recording, heh heh heh... nevertheless I'm very grateful, and it was definitely one of the coolest and most thoughtful presents I have received in a very long time. The little digital camera is also cool, and is responsible for all of the pictures here for today's post.

At last, we managed to bestow final embraces and handshakes -- and yes, of -course- I gave Todd a kiss, thank you very much (with permission of both spouses, thank YOU very much) -- and the Thalimers got on their way. We'd estimated originally that the visit was going to last until noon, but we'd been able to do and say and take pictures and get all of it done by 11:30 and each get back on the road ahead of schedule.

As we drove back to the Bay Area, we tuned in to KGO, and that's when we heard the news about the earthquake down in central California. We hadn't felt a thing in Sacramento, so we listened to radio reports as we drove home.

We made superlative time, and managed to get back home shortly before one thirty in the afternoon. When we got up the stairs, there was a message blinking on our machine. It was Todd, calling from his cell phone and thanking us again and hoping we would meet again soon. When I called back, Heidi answered, and we said one final goodbye before they got home. Which if the weather holds, should be sometime today.

This year has been a year of highs and lows on a level I have never before experienced.

Meeting my friend Todd after so many years of correspondence with him is definitely something that is insuring that 2003 concludes on a positive note for me.

Thanks, Toddy.

Love you guys, and hope to see you sometime in the spring.

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