Summertime Memories of My Friend Toby

     At the start of the last two seasons, I've shared with you some of my memories of my friend Toby. With summer approaching, I thought I share some additional memories with my friend. I am missing my friend more and more each day,
     In the summer, we always went on a trip somewhere.  On Toby's birthday, I told you about three of the trips that we took together. I'll tell you about  three more.
     One year, we decided to go down to the Ozarks and look around. We found a wonderful hotel to stay at. There was even a golf course. It was free to play for guests. I was even allowed to take Toby down there as long as he didn't get on the greens. All of the holes were par three.
     I have to admit that I like golf, but I've never been much of a golfer. I don't know how many holes I ended up playing, but I only hit the green on the first stroke once. That was a cause for celebration. On most of the holes, Toby looked like he couldn't believe that I was so bad at this game. After one errant swing I took, I swear that he put his head down facing the ground so that he didn't have to watch such a pitiful spectacle.
     He never caused any problems. We had a lot of fun on that little golf course that weekend. No one else was playing, so we just had a great time.
     We drove all around the Ozarks and looked at many interesting sites. We went down there again in the fall one year. The trees are really beautiful in that part of the country when the leaves start to change color.
     Another year, we went to Omaha. My Mom and I went to the zoo and had a great time looking at the white tigers, the gorillas and sun bears. My Dad and I went to the horse races.
     One afternoon, I took Toby and Mom and we went to visit a beautiful garden that was open to the public. There were so many gorgeous flowers.
     The last trip that I took with Toby, the family decided to go to Saint Louis and look around. We got into Saint Louis, but Toby acted strange in the hotel. He kept smelling around the bed and make strange noises. I told the folks that if Toby thought that something was strange, I was out of there.
     We left there and went to a motel outside of town. It was a great find, because just down the road my folks found a great Italian restaurant. I always stayed with Toby when the folks went to eat. They brought me back the best fettuccine Alfredo I've ever had. Toby liked it too.
     The next day, we came across just by chance a museum in Fulton, Missouri dedicated to Winston Churchill. This is a fantastic little museum. The college where the museum is located is where Churchill gave his famous "Iron Curtain" speech.
     Toby couldn't go in the museum, so Mom watched him while I went in. She wasn't a history buff, so she didn't mind. When I came out, Toby went with me to look at the sections of the old Berlin Wall that were on display. I thought about what we would have done if we would have lived in East Berlin. After we looked at the old wall, we went to look at a old church above the Winston Churchill museum. It was a very interesting trip getting to see this museum and church. I loved it.
     After this trip, Toby wasn't in good enough health to go on trips anymore. If Toby couldn't go, I didn't want to go either. There was no way I would leave him at a boarding place.
     These are just simple trips, but they meant a lot to me. I miss these times each summer.
     Most of the summer, the two of us tried to stay as cool as possible. We both hated the heat. Toby would only go for the briefest outings when it was really warm.
     There is another memory I would like to share. It doesn't have anything to do with summer, it's just something I was thinking about while I was writing this post.
     One year, we had a terrible ice storm. Out in the country were we lived, the power lines were down, and the roads were in horrific shape. We had to move into an apartment in town for about four weeks while the power was restored. Mom wanted to stay up there until the weather cleared up as well as she wanted to make sure that she could get to work. She was the one who made enough so that we could live, so she needed to keep her good job.
     The time in the apartment would have been terrible as far as I was concerned if Toby hadn't have been there. When it wasn't too cold, we would go and get an ice cream down the street at the Baskin-Robbins. I can vividly remember all the walks we took around town that winter at the apartment. I used to talk to him and tell him about all my dreams for the future. They included him of course.
     Tuesday is the anniversary of the day my friend passed away. I wish that we could be together again. Life hasn't been much fun since he's been gone. One thing that I am so happy about is that he lived long enough to get to know that I had a poem published in a literary journal. Poetry is the most important part of writing to me.
     Toby always was right by my side when I was working at my writing desk. As long as he could be where I was, he was happy.
     Toby is with my Mom and Dad now in Heaven. I believe that we will be together again one day. I am always thankful to Jesus for bringing us together all those years ago.