Peacemakers

This summer we got to go on a lot of cool trips. Trips that I kept hidden from the world. Maybe out of fear. One of the most relaxing trips was to Bellingham WA. I love Bellingham. Some of the highlights included visiting Calhan and Liz. Ok that's about all we did but we got to go hiking and see stuff- all with Calhan and Liz. You might not know Calhan Ring and Liz Hart (fantastic names). They are my friends from high school and they live in house in Bellingham and have lots of good books and chickens in the backyard. I really liked the paint in their kitchen and I wanted to stay and read all the books. We did lots of cool things and we got to eat Rocket Donuts. I recommend the rocket donuts to everyone- especially the apple fritter that is as big as your face.
I haven't really stayed in touch with anyone from high school except for a little thing called facebook that was invented. Liz is quite good at keeping in touch with people which could be motivated by her good penmanship. I would probably be better at writing people letters if mine was that good just so I could look at my own letters. Then again I might just keep them to read again and again. It would probably be really important to write your husband love notes if you have good penmanship because then you can read them occasionally. Liz also has forgiven me for stealing her book in high school called "Please Understand Me" about the Meyers Briggs Personality test. Once in high school someone gave me a piece of steak for my birthday. Not from a cow- a ceramic one that was painted. I believe I still have it and I always attributed it to Liz but this trip she said she had no idea what I was talking about and that she never took ceramics so this trip brought mystery- who gave me that excellent present?
Liz is a social worker and Calhan is a mediator and sometimes John would recognize Calhan smoothing over conflict. I think some people are natural peacemakers. I am not one of them, but they really are fun to hang out with. Our visit made me think about the peacemakers I know in life and realize that it is quite rare to have that gift. Sometimes I wonder if I really would want to be a peacemaker- I really dislike people who are phony and some people pretend everything is OK at the expense of honesty. People who cave under pressure or just agree with you because they don't enjoy conflict are the most likely to stab you in the back. Peacemakers just naturally invite people to look outside themselves.
I am still not sure what it would mean for me to want to be more of a peacemaker. But one thing I do know- I love donuts. A lot.