A Conversation Between Two Old Friends

I’m getting you a GPS for your birthday.

Why? I asked.

So that you don’t get lost!

But I never get lost.

Of course, you do. Don’t you remember on that trip that it took 10 hours to go 20 miles? We were very lost then.

But were we? Wasn’t that a wonderful adventure. We saw beautiful mountains and that lovely mill down on the river. We asked directions at the General Store and were invited to lunch by that family that overheard us! We enjoyed that so much. I never knew that they grew special apples for hard cider. I know that you loved climbing down that hidden staircase in the barn to see where they hid the cider during prohibition. We weren’t lost. We found history!

Okay, that was fun. But we were lost. We never did make it to that party.

No, we didn’t make it to that party but that was fine by me. I didn’t like those people anyway.

Well, okay, that day was fun. I admit it. But we wouldn’t have had that adventure if we hadn’t of gotten lost. I just knew that we should have taken a left instead of a right at that intersection.

Maybe. But my gut told me to turn right. I could see the horses up ahead in the pasture. It was just a small detour to drive up to give them a pet. It never occurred to me that there would be guard dogs. I still laugh when I remember how fast you ran back to the car. And how you made me drive on down the road to get away from there! We were both a little shaken up, but those dogs never jumped the fence like you said that they would. And that road led to the rest of our adventures.

It did. We had fun. But we were still lost. We had no idea of where we were or how to get back to the main road. Once we got into the mountains, it was even hard to tell where the sun was, not that that would have helped us. People navigate by where the sun is in the sky, but I wouldn’t know how to do that. And how do they do it at night? Follow the stars? What if it is cloudy? No. I prefer the GPS to taking my chances.

Did we have a GPS when we went to Ireland? If we had, would we have missed that wonderful B & B? We were so tired, and it was getting dark. You said that you wanted to stay in a home that had a cat in the window and on the next turn round that road, there it was! Such a cute little place with that thatched roof. Those people fed us a full meal and wouldn’t let us pay for it. The other guests in the parlor were musicians and we sang and played into the night. And don’t forget that cat.

Ah, yes. The cat who jumped in the bedroom window where we were sleeping and meowed into my face. Scared the hell out of me! But, yes. That stay was terrific. Still, we only found it because we were lost. I was so nervous the next day until we found the highway. And then, when you picked up that hitchhiker, I thought we really were going to die. I mean, who lets a complete stranger into the car?

We did. And he remains a friend to this day. You married him. You never would have found your perfect soul mate if we hadn’t gotten lost. So, who needs a GPS?