Lifelong Friendships with The Gawnes!

Lifelong Friendships

“Friendship isn’t about who you’ve known the longest. It’s about who walked into your life, said ‘I’m here for you,’ and proved it.”

I have been fortunate to nurture lifelong friendships with several people, some going back to second grade. We still talk, catch up with each other’s lives on social media, and visit when we can. Most people I met in my younger years still live in Ohio, as do several of my college friends. Over the last 15 years or so, I’ve traveled to foreign lands and stateside with my college friends (teammates and roommates), as well as with my high school girlfriends. I believe that our trips and spending precious time together are enriching our lives, or at least they are for me; I suspect it is also for most of them.

During summer break after my sophomore year in college, I got a job working on the playgrounds in Cleveland, Ohio. The one I was assigned to (Plymouth Playground) was a short walk from my home. I used the family wagon to transport all the supplies I needed to keep the munchkins going all day long, as well as swinging them on the swings and playing basketball since we had a dilapidated court that was still “useful.”

At our first city-wide meeting, before heading to our assigned playgrounds, I met a young man named Bill Gawne. Since he was three years older than I and had been working on the playgrounds for three years by then, he was promoted to a playground supervisor of some playgrounds near his home. We had an immediate connection, probably because we were both college runners and one of us, or both of us, were repping our schools with the choice of T-shirts we wore that faithful day. The details are fuzzy, so I’ll stick to the T-shirts.

The birth of our platonic lifelong friendship was born that day. I could not be more thankful!

I still giggle that Bill had a girlfriend at that time, and I had a boyfriend, but Bill and I still did stuff together that, to my knowledge, was celebrated by each of our “significant others.” There was no jealousy involved, so we carried on doing our playground work, setting up the Junior Olympics, and driving out to Mentor Headlands whenever we got the chance. We had a lot of fun all summer long. Once Bill, a lifelong sports nut, graduated from Ashland College, he worked in schools and as a track and field coach until he landed his coveted job at Nike. We kept in touch during the summers and enjoyed fun times when our schedules permitted.

I always looked up to Bill as my big brother; he is that kind of guy. In fact, I met my Bill while Bill Gawne was hosting the Bonne Bell T&F Relays in Rocky River, Ohio, as he got/coerced/begged his friends to assist him in timing the events at the finish line. Bill Tomoff and I were a part of the timing staff that day, and I fell in love with Bill Tomoff as he timed fourth place, and I timed third place.

Fast forward to last week, when Bill and his beautiful wife, Colleen, both freshly minted retirees, came to Crofton, Maryland, for a much-anticipated visit. Bill and Colleen were steadfast in their love, faith, and friendship with our family, especially when our son Ryan was diagnosed with cancer in 1996. Bill and Colleen were unstoppable in their support, creating miracles that no one would have ever dreamed of to help our family in crisis. We are truly grateful for their prayers and dedication to Ryan and our entire family through good times and not-so-good times.

It was our utmost pleasure to host them in Maryland as they kicked off their retirement travel and to-do list. I loved how we slowed down our lives to just be with our loving friends. We lingered in the mornings with laughter and tears. We caught up on so many topics that we had only heard bits and pieces over the years, typically when Bill Tomoff and I would meet up for an hour or so, with Bill G., both Bill and Colleen, and sometimes even with their kids, Jordan and Hunter, as we traveled back and forth to Ohio through three decades.

You know what? I am smiling as I type this post.

To me, lifelong friendships are the gold threads woven through the fabric of our lives (I am, after all, a quilter!), beautiful and enduring. Whether we’ve walked and played on our respective playgrounds, hospital corridors (Bill Gawne was at the hospital the day after I had our firstborn, Olivia), or across states and decades together, it’s the presence, not proximity, that defines our bond. I’m endlessly grateful for friends like Bill and Colleen Gawne who show up, stick around, and remind me—again and again—what a gift it is to be truly known and loved. Those two Manufactured Sunshine when we needed it most. We are all so very blessed!

bSoleille!

Terri