Anna Returns
In my installment “Coffee Shop Surprise” I introduced you to my friend since kindergarten, Anna. At that point, she and I had just recently reconnected and we were having breakfast couple times a month. I introduced her in that installment because she and I had talked about us starting to hang out more than just the occasional breakfast.
At the time Marshall and I were planning to fly out to Colorado to surprise August and Arden for Arden’s birthday! Because I was aware of the Colorado plan, Anna and I planned to start hanging out more frequently when I got back. Unfortunately, Ohio shut down for Covid the day that Marshall and I got back.
While Covid delayed Anna and my plans, she wasn't completely out of my life. In “The Goodbye Anderson Special” I said that my “sister” Aspen was, “one of the main reasons that I survived the (at the time) last 19 months.” Anna was the other half of that equation. Throughout 2020, Anna and I would have weekly phone calls, to keep ourselves sane.
We kept in touch at the beginning of 2021 and we even went to S.M.’s grave and ate ice cream to celebrate her birthday last year. After that I got busy with finally publishing “The Greattastic Adventures: Miracle Child,” Anna had to do finals and we both remained pretty busy until the following fall.
By the time I got back in touch with Anna, she told me that she was moving to Idaho, from January-March for her occupational therapy clinicals. The last time I saw Anna was when Cousin Simple played Jingle Jam with AJR and Spencer Sutherland. At the end of the show when we were almost at the door I saw Mom and I told Anna and her best friend, Jordan, I had to go. I hugged both of them goodbye and told Anna, “I'll see you in March!” Anna smiled and walked out the door to begin her next adventure…
We talked a few times throughout Anna’s time in Idaho, though it was minimal because we were both busy. In early April, Noah and I went to a Blue Jackets hockey game. When we were heading to our seats we ran into Anna. “Hey,” I asked after we caught up for a few minutes, “when are we going to hang out?”
It took us a while, like two whole months to actually make our schedules work, but we finally decided to hang out on June 11th. We got coffee and met up at a local park and hung out just like old times. While it has taken a little over two years, I hope that Anna and I can now resume our pre-covid plans!
Have a Greattastic day and be safe!
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
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