6/21- Dave & Lindsay

Dave and Lindsay were the next step in my research into Loreli's past. I had originally thought that they lived in Delta, but as previously mentioned, I discovered they lived down in the heart of Toledo. These were a curious pair I was quite excited to meet. Though they aren't Loreli's parents, they essentially are and I'd never quite understood how that worked. I knew the idea, but didn't know the logistics of it.

I awoke to some more coffee at gramma's house with Cyndal and Steven as their gramma had a TV mass in the living room. Soon enough, however, Shelly returned to give me a lift east to the city as she was heading there anyway to see her aunt. With goodbyes and sincere thank yous to Loreli's grandmother and siblings for having me I was soon shuttled off to the next chapter of me prying into Loreli's mysterious childhood. What a little snoop I am.

With only a few wrong turns here and there we were soon pulling into the driveway of my new hosts. I knew they weren't going to be in at the time so as Shelly drove off I stood in the driveway plotting my next move. It was Father's Day as well and I'd decided to shift my phone day from Saturday to Sunday for obvious reasons. With an active phone for the day, however, I decided to go for a walk and try Loreli's friend Hannah who lived around one of the corners in the area.

I walked down toward the river making calls to some other friends first before touching base with Hannah. When I got a little ways in the sweltering heat I decided sitting on Dave and Lindsay's porch probably wouldn't freak them out, as they are expecting me anyway, so I turned around and walked back the half mile I'd walked. When I got back to their porch I tried Hannah who offered to come out and meet me, so I about faced one more time and retraced the path I'd just walked in the heat to meet up with her. When we did meet up we walked a bit further toward her house before Lindsay called saying they were home now. I turned back around again, this time with Hannah, and we walked together with her dog back to the house again. I felt a little ridiculous having tread the same turf four times in an hour once I got back to the house, but once in we all settled on the porch over coffee.

Dave and Lindsay had obviously known Hannah from when Loreli was living there through out high school so they had much to catch up on. Dave had also just returned from a business trip to DC and Montreal so he had much to share as well. I was quite happy with that since it allowed me to just sit back, enjoy my coffee, and just listen to them catching up with each other. Hannah stayed about an hour before having to head back home, leaving me with an invite to hang out at a BBQ that night if I felt up to it.

We sat for a bit longer on the front porch getting to know each other a bit before normal routine set back in for the day. Dave and Lindsay set me up in the guest bedroom, then head off to the grocery store for dinner supplies leaving me to settle in to the house. This was quite a blessing for me. With all of my bouncing from being a guest in one house to the next over the past 7 weeks starting at Wendy's house down in Corbin City, NJ I was starting to be a blathering idiot of spouting "thank you, thank you" every five seconds. One of those incessantly polite house guests that unintentionally makes the hosts feel uncomfortable. Lindsay politely jostled me in the right direction of seeing that, and the time on my own to settle into the house gave me time to set my head on straight again. I don't know if I was entirely successful, but it was a start.

I sat on the back patio and opened up the phone. I talked to my Dad for Father's Day and Loreli catching her up on how my visit with her grandmother had gone. I also tried Angela's friend Beth again, then talked for a good while to Ang herself, which I hadn't been able to do in a few weeks. When Dave and Lindsay returned, they returned with no announcement or fan fare and set the wonderful tone of taking a load off and sitting about the house. We'd drift by each other on occasion and have a little chat about something or another on the way to the hammock in the back, or the chair on the front porch. It was a perfect way of subtly telling me I don't need to entertain with stories or anything, just relax and enjoy yourself here because that's what we're going to do.

Their daughter Schuyler was in town for the night as well having just graduated college. Being that it was Father's Day she and Dave had their father/daughter night by making dinner together on the barbecue. Lindsay and I settled into the front porch reading and visiting until dinner was near ready, when we migrated to the back to where the action was. It was a really nice night all around. The dinner turned out quite amazingly, and the vibe, as I've tried to emphasize, was very relaxed and down to earth. We retired to ice cream and television by the darker hours of the night. I made it an early night, retiring to my room by about 10pm.

Two of Sky's friends arrived to stay the night as well as I was heading to bed. They were all heading back to Columbus the next day, and Sky was gearing up for a European excursion in a few days. We had a brief chat of our travels, and I pointed out a few tips on the pack she was bringing so it would ride better on her. I wasn't lasting long though and soon found myself in bed.