An Online THANKS to My Artistic Friend DIANA TULLIO

A year ago I found out that one of my best friends had an artist inside of her hiding! Julie, Kim, and I found the artist peeking out during a tattooing session in our hotel room during our trip to Monterrey last year. I was fooling around and asked for a tattoo of a bull on the back of my neck. Don't ask how much wine we had before I asked this. Read the whole description of the trip here, but check out the drawing I got on the back of my neck! It took several days to wash away. Then the artist hid again and we didn't hear from her again until the night before I was leaving Dayton. I received a wonderful pencil drawing that Diana had drawn. Well, I got see it electronically as the weather was too bad for Diana to make it in to Julie's that night. It was so good! In case you don't see it well, it is a picture of the Bramers (Tom, Shelly, and Natalie) with the Shanghai skyline in the back. And she had a card as well. The card reads:
Good-Bye... Sigh
Tom and Shelly and Natalie
have decided to leave the country.
They have packed their bags, and checked the nooks and crags
while racing about town frantically.

We have been planning our good-byes
amongst regrets and heartfelt sighs.
Except for some weirdo parent,
the Bramer's will leave with no apparent
need for anything but smiles and dry eyes.

Shelly gave notice at the old salt mine.
Then we drank all of Bill and Jeanne's wine.
A zillion lunches have come and gone, and
We have taken all occasions to "tie one on"!
Who will ever replace Shelly's penchant to dine?!

They will return some day.
We hope to visit them while they are away.
to go to China to live
is an opportunity not many would give,
so we will talk virtually and say...

Have a wonderful time in Shanghai!
We will miss you.
All our love,
5 Sisters

It definitely made me teary-eyed! (we had promised no tears). I finally received my drawings and card in one of the "care packages" that my wonderful friends sent me. Along with the Shanghai picture, Diana also crafted a "Shelma" picture for me based on the Velma character in the Scooby Doo series. Don't ask for an explanation that! I was so touched. I wanted to have them framed so that I could hang them up. I decided to go with over-the-top frames, but frankly I think they turned out beautifully! I am going to hang up the Bears somewhere in the living room. The Shelma will probably need to go in our bedroom. Tom thinks it is a little, well, weird, to have this picture hanging where we can see it in bed, but I think it is fitting! Oh, and besides the beautiful artwork, I also received a book of Haiku that Diana wrote with pictures from our California trip. Very impressive! One of my favorites is:

Big Sur - Part 2
Walk-a-bout rising
Surf and cliffs integrated
Heat, breeze, misty trail


I want to Diana to know how special her gifts are to me. On the occasion that I am having a Shang"low" day, I can look at the pictures and remember the great times I have had with my friends and how many we will have in the future. I have had a lot of opportunity to think about my life as it was up to this point and I more

clearly understand and appreciate

the role I have played with my friends and family up to this point. More importantly, I value the support that you get from a good set of friends, even if the miles

between them are great.

So, enough of my melancholy. A final shout out to Julie, Kim, Diane, and Diana. I love you and I miss you tons, but we are BFF and that is special!