Some People Never Change

...and I mean that in a very good way.  

Like my dear friend Chad...he's still the same wonderful friend, the same man of character...and apparently he doesn't age :)

circa 1990-ish?

I met Chad at WCU (Western Carolina University, for you PA friends :) a long time ago...like when I was 19.  He pledged the fraternity I hung out with (Sigma Nu) and became my Little Bro...and we've been dear friends ever since...for 22 years now.  Yes, I said fraternity...some of you may be having a hard time imagining me as a fraternity-hanging-out-kinda-gal...I take that as a compliment.  Yes, many years ago I lived a much different, and bit wilder life.  And while my life is very different now, I am very thankful to still be in touch with so many from those days at Western...it's pretty interesting to see where we were and where we are now :)

Anyhoo...back to Chad.  We have always stayed in touch.  Sometimes we talk every few months, sometimes a year passes between calls...we're kinda low maintenance like that.  But regardless of how often we talk, we don't get to see each other very often...the last time Steve and I saw Chad was about 12 years ago when he was stationed at Fort Bragg.

Then we moved to Colorado and then to PA...and Chad moved around too...flying his Apache in too many war zones (so thankful for your safety, my friend) and then working with helicopters in other ways.

So, it had been a long time since we actually got to see Chad...until we moved to Texas, that is :)  Chad had a conference in Dallas last month and got to come spend an evening with us the last night he was in town.  What a treat!  I loved introducing him to my girls and it was simply wonderful to hang out and catch up.  It was Valentine's Day...and while I braved Dallas traffic to rescue Chad from his hotel, Steve cooked us up an amazing mexican feast!  It was wonderful...great food, great friends!

And as you can see, the guy has barely changed...me, well, there's been a bit more change :)

Chad, thanks for sharing your time with us...we loved having you in our home!

Here's to dear friends~
Rach