A Lost Afternoon With Lyd Vicious

You may remember a little ode called The Preacher's Kid I wrote concerning a lovely friend of mine. I wrote of the indelible impression this woman named Lydia has made on my life. You may also have read my recent ode to her father George who recently passed away recently. That post was titled The Gentle Pastor. Last Thursday, I, along with Keith and Kristy, reunited with our girl in Marietta, Ohio for what is fast becoming our supersized version of what is called "doing lunch". Laughter, delicious food and cocktails were in order as usual, and unsurprisingly, there was more than a little emotion as well.

First, a quick explanation on the post title regarding my referring to Lydia as "Lyd Vicious".....as evidenced by the pic at right, our gal Lyd has joined up with a fledgling roller derby team called the Marietta Derby Girls. That title didn't quite captivate me like the name of the nearby Athens team: The Appalachian Hell Betties...which may be the greatest name ever. Yes, this fortysomething businesswoman and mother of two has reveled in her new role as roller derby diva and I personally, could not be more excited for her. I was thrilled to find out that Southeast Ohio was getting into the roller derby game and I cannot wait to see Lyd in action at one of her bouts. She toyed with the idea of carrying the moniker of Lyd Vicious but it turned out that was too similar to another derby girl's name so she decided on the decidedly less lethal name of Lydibug, in honor of the nickname her father called her. Not just a beloved nickname, Lydibug will also serve as a cutesy title that will mislead her opponents into thinking her weak before she puts the hammer down on them. The "lost afternoon" portion of the title refers to what has become de rigueur for lunch with Lyd...afternoon turns into evening; day into night, simply because we can't bear to part ways after a mere hour or two. A "lost afternoon" also makes more sense with someone named Lyd Vicious as opposed to Lydibug which sounds like we've had a wild day out with a Muppet.

We had lunch at our Marietta favorite The Galley where we caught up with old friend Greg aka Pimpdaddy G who manages the joint. We noshed on tasty steak salad, avocado sandwiches, shrimp nachos and bruschetta with macaroni and cheese. Life, as it does, intermittently threatened to dent our lively conversations with vibrating cell phones but trudge on we did. There were expected emotional moments...tearful, time-stopping descriptions of George's last days and the funeral itself. Lyd clearly needed these moments of reflection to continue her healing and so we listened in silent support. Eventually, we returned to our signature goofiness; posing like fools on the stage at the Adelphia Music Hall. We agreed to move on to St. Marys and Abicht's Landing for our last-night-in-town soiree. I rode with Lyd there and after a seriously amusing stop at Giant Eagle to pick up supplies for Kak and apparently to wear out our cashier Troy; we got on the road with windows rolled down and music cranked. Girlfriend joyfully sang with the tunes at the top of her lungs all the way there. Lydibug may have been rocked but she's still intact, for sure.

As the setting sun lazily drifted onto the lake at Abicht's Landing, we caught up with Kak, Barb, Dot, Connie and Fritz. We noshed on the makeshift fajita bar while Pat perfected his recipe for a cherry pork loin. We took advantage of the spectacular weather to hang on the deck for most of the night. We reminisced and laughed therapeutically most of the evening. It was a perfect cap to the week.

We love ya, Lyd...keep healing and kicking booty. It's amazing to watch you grow from a beloved bundle of boundless energy into a truly extraordinary woman and unstoppable force of nature.
Rock on, Lydibug!