Jimmy and I drove down to Yustega to have lunch with Gene and Lynan Zamba, who are doing a fabulous job of starting up operations for the hunting lodge. The place looks great, and gourmet chef Lynan fixed us one of her 5-Star menus. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and it helps us keep our minds off of our medical woes.

This is blackmail. Jimmy said that if I didn't put a picture of myself on this thing, he wasn't going to let me take any more pictures of him, ever again, so he turned the camera on me this morning.

Knowing how much Jimmy loves ice cream, Carolyn Eager stopped by our house on her way to work this morning to bring him a carton of a special brand she had found. We were both so happy to see her, and our visit was much too short. There is so much history between all of our families that it's hard to know where to begin. Jimmy lived across the street from Carolyn and her late husband Bill for years, and they were great friends, and raised their children together.Bill's parents, Dottie and Bill Eager, were some of my parents, Dottie and Berkley Mackey's, oldest and dearest friends. Carolyn's sister-in-law Josie and I have been friends forever.

I remember well the first time I met Carolyn. It was the summer of 1966, at the Eager's wonderful old family summer home in Monteagle, Tennessee. I was staying there with Josie and her parents, and Carolyn and Bill, only a few years older than we were, had recently met, and were courting. Josie and I, so silly and still in high school, never gave them a minute's peace. I can see it like it was yesterday, Carolyn and Bill sitting on the porch swing late in the afternoon, trying to have a quiet conversation, with Josie and me spying on them and taunting them incessantly, saying things like, "Love birds, love birds!," and making loud smooching noises. We were insufferable.