I am so fortunate to be able to see my friends wherever they may be—in the calendar year 2018, I saw my friend Joan Ishibashi, formerly Executive Assistant of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, on three different occasions and in three locations! She has lived in London since 2013, when she married Kantila Vaghela,

Last January she stayed with me on her visit to Hawaii; in July I saw her in London and Worcester, U.K.; we traveled together to Gloucester; and just today our families had lunch together in Camarillo, California while she is serving a two-month interim pastorate for the Church of the Foothills in Ventura, CA.

We decided to meet at the Basil and Mint Vietnamese restaurant in Camarillo, not far from Ventura—my son’s former home.

In 2019 I’ll be going on a special tour of Cornwall which begins in London and will meet up with Joan again before the tour begins.

We will also rendezvous in late July at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester.

Come to think of it, I also saw my former student, Joey Fala, in three diverse locations this past calendar year: in Durham, NC where Joey is the organ scholar at Duke University; in Gloucester, England where the Duke University Choir was in residence; and in Hawaii, when Joey visited at Thanksgiving and brought his girlfriend, Sarah.

Hey! One day I may be coming to visit YOU!