… and also of friends, is a wonderful thing.

That’s José and Isaac up there. My two ‘main guys’ over at one of my favourite tapa bars, Enrique Becerra. Blog buddy nursemyra will remember it as the place Peter & I took her on her first night in Sevilla back in June, which was the first time I’d been back there since the op. I also took Kristin there for lunch during her surprise visit a few weeks ago, at which time I told José about the cancer situation. Mostly to explain why I hadn’t been around much since May and also (since they close for the month of August) in case I didn’t end up seeing him again until sometime in November. Then we talked about his upcoming holidays, which will be spent at home saving money for the arrival of his first child in October (a girl, already named Julia). And when Kristin, who was treating me to lunch, asked for the bill I noticed it was considerably smaller than it should have been …

And well, I really did think I wouldn’t be seeing the Becerra gang again until way after my next op. But today went kind of weird. I had a real anxiety attack in the morning – for no apparent reason! (sound familiar, Truce?) – and was crying and being all upset. Finally Peter and I decided to go out for a walk, which was a good idea. And on the way home we decided to stop by Becerra’s for one tapa. José came out from behind the bar to hug me and didn’t even mind going to the wine cellar to get me a glass of cellar temperature white wine – I explained that I couldn’t drink anything cold and wasn’t in the mood for red wine. After our one tapa each Peter & I decided that the curry I’d made could be saved for tomorrow’s lunch and we went for two more tapas that we’d never tried before (thereby also giving me a photo op for my tapa blog – photos 37 & 38). Feeling quite sated, and also no longer emotionally wonky, I asked José to bring us the bill.

And well, you know . . . José came over and said that our lunch was on the house, as was another round of drinks, which he promptly brought us. And while Peter and I were thanking him, he told us that he would also be inviting us to another tapa meal after my next op to celebrate that I was better. And as if that wasn’t enough, while we were enjoying our extra drinks, he showed up with one of our favourite dishes – a plate of grilled garlic beef sirloin (photo 17), also on the house – saying that we couldn’t drink without food!

Anyhow, after staggering home I got into the shower and put on a fresh linen dress. And sat down to write this post. It’s funny, because while we were having our first tapa earlier on I said to Peter that I really couldn’t think of anything to blog about today… ha!

And now, being way too full of tapas on a very hot afternoon, as well as a bit tipsy, I am going to have a long siesta and think about how honestly kind and generous people can be, and also about how some day I will be able to pay it forward.