A note from Stan Went Fishing co-author and photographer, Paul Fetters
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, let’s get creative.
If there is one night your dinner should not be ordered and delivered through your car window, and there is one friend, partner, or collaborator you’ve been thinking about spending time with, I have a suggestion for you: try the “Stan-like” conversation that Nancy and I engage in while waiting for our food to be served.
I start: “You know, I’ve been giving it some thought and it is very clear to me that I am far and away getting the better half of this friendship deal of ours.”
Nancy then jumps in, protesting, “No way – I’m the one….”
I cut her off and begin my recitation of recent evidence.
- Your unbridled enthusiasm for every crazy idea I have, from puppies to sailboats. You give them all the space and oxygen they need to either lift off and fly or implode on the launch pad.
- Your, at first, crazy-seeming thoughts and conversational threads that soon become the building blocks of our next project.
- Your eagerness to discuss everything from the divine to the profane, milking it all for the last drop of heat and light the topic contains.
- Your willingness to listen to me so thoroughly that the truth or malarkey of my thoughts seems to bubble to the top on its own accord.
- Your occasional gift of music and literature arriving on my porch in one of those boxes with the smile on the side.
I then pause for a sip of merlot, knowing that it is her turn and that every appreciation she has for me is that much more evidence that I have the best part of this friendship deal of ours.
Give them the book and a good merlot and tell them how you have the best end of the deal.
Onward!
Paul
To order Stan Went Fishing for a Valentine’s Gift, go to stanwentfishing.com or on www.Amazon.com.