Farewell and Godspeed

 We had a very bittersweet farewell for some very good friends on Sunday.  I just want to confess that I am not very good at goodbye's.  If given the opportunity I will slink out of a social gathering without saying goodbye to anyone.  It's a genetic defect, and I came by it quite honestly.  As I write this Garry and Irma Karns are moving east of the mountains to be closer to grandchildren.  I totally understand that impulse and am very thankful that our granddaughter only lives as far away as Portland.
So, as a kind of farewell, we went on a wine tasting and picnic tour the weekend before they left.  It was a wonderful trip.  We started at a winery I have wanted to visit for a long time, Brooks Wines just outside of Amity.  Jimmy Brooks died about the same time I came to live in McMinnville.  He had been the winemaker at Maysara Winery and died at a much too young an age.  He had started his own vineyard and winery, and when he died the ownership of that winery fell to his 8 year old son!  Luckily Jimmy's sister stepped in and helped to keep things going in her brother's memory.  It is a wonderful memorial.
 
 Our host for the visit was Davin whose business card says simply that he is the "wine guy."  He is an energetic and knowledgeable host.  Brooks specializes in white wines which were very enjoyable on an untypically hot day.  We ended up purchasing a couple of their Janus Pinot Noirs, two Rieslings, and a couple of dessert wines with amazing acidity which beautifully sets off the sweetness of the pressed frozen grapes.  It turns out Davin grew up in Hawaii and came to McMinnville to play football for a local college.  He ended up tasting wine along the way, and now has the bug.
After that tasting we went over to Witness Tree Vineyard.  I once did an interview with the winemaker and vineyard manager, Steve Westby, and he was very generous with his time.  When we walked by the tree from which the vineyard gets it's name I noticed there were picnic tables up there.  "Do people come up here and have a picnic?"  I asked.  "You bet."  Steve answered.  I tucked that piece of information away and it was just waiting for the right time.  Well, this was it.

Robin, Irma and Garry stopped by the tasting room to tryout their wines, while I grabbed our lunch and headed up the hill.  It's quite a climb!  And of course I don't do paper plates!  We had a very nice spread on a real cotton tablecloth with china plates, crystal wineglasses and clothe napkins.  (Isn't that how everybody does a picnic?)  I wanted to do something nice for these wonderful people.  Irma has been my walking partner for a long time and has been an amazing gift to my physical and emotional well being.  Garry and Irma were also two of our partners in our wine shop, Wednesday Wines.  The shop didn't do so well.  We opened right as the economy tanked, and our business model was flawed.  The fact that Garry and Irma are still friends after I convinced them to flush a bunch of money down the drain on project they didn't really have a passion for is amazing.  It is a grace.  Friendships have ended over much less.

They will be so missed in this community.  Garry has cared for a number of widows, doing odd jobs and making runs to the dump.  He was my go-to guy for the dishwasher at the church when we were doing major events.  He is a volunteer at the ReStore, and was the Financial Secretary of our congregation for many, many years.  Irma was a CASA volunteer which was a reflection of her passion for children who are in peril.  They are the salt of the earth type of people Jesus talked about.  And though I was not able to tell them to their faces, I can write about my feelings (now that they are safely out of earshot!)
I'm happy for their new life with their grandchildren.  I'm happy for them.  I'm sad for us, for me.  I've lost a critical partner.  I will get to see them again, and that is a help.  But it feels like a part of me is missing, and it makes me wish we'd done many more wine tastings and picnics together.  So, I'm happy we took the time for the last one, and I look forward to more in the future.  Traveling Mercies Irma and Garry.