Is this farewell, Judy Diaz?

Scott and I drove to Bensalem to say farewell to my former colleague Judy Diaz. For nostalgia's sake, I thought it would be nice to eat at the Hulmeville Inn.

The moment we entered it was like sticking your head in an ashtray. Everyone was smoking in the bar.

"Let's leave," I said to Scott.

Here's the glass-enclosed porch when I used to eat.

"Hi Jackie, I'll have a grilled cheese on whole wheat with a tomato, and mustard and mayo, and a cup of coffee."

I wrote a poem about the place called "The Fourth of July" and I know my millions of readers are looking f/w to reading it on that red-white-and blue day.

The town of Hulmeville and nearby Penndel boast numerous old buildings like this one, right across the street.

Nearing Judy's house, we stopped to eat at Stephano's Pizza shop.

I had a scrumptious eggplant parm with attendant spag, preceded by a fairly decent salad.

I used to eat here - under different management - when I worked at the now-defunct Bristol-Bensalem Human Services Center.

I remember being hypomanic there once upon a time and meeting a cute guy who drove a red truck. He asked me out and I said, Meet me at the office.

He was 45 minutes late, I was driving off in my car, and I never saw him again.

You know, it's very easy for me to write about my manic episodes online but for some reason I rarely talk about them.

I guess I have better writing access to these memories than speaking.

 Judy Diaz in another carnation. I have never taken a good photo of her, so Secretariat shall suffice.

Judy is moving to Boulder, CO, in July, to spend her retirement years with son Michael and his wife Tory. She'll live in an apartment across the street from them. She'll build her own life there and not depend on her kids.

Judy is from Butler, PA, where her mother was not only beautiful but a noted antique dealer. Her maiden name is Claypool, which I thought sounded like a character from a Wm Faulkner novel.

She disabused me of this notion, telling me a descendent, John Claypool, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

I was not surprised. Judy is a brilliant woman who is a political junkie, like my Scottie.

The reason I refer to her as my colleague is b/c when I was in hospital for my kidney transplant in April 2011 Judy called the hospital and said she was my colleague. They always ask what relation you are to the patient, which I think is ridiculous! Just put the interested parties through!

"Oh! President Obama? And what is your relationship to the patient?"

 Some of the lovely things that Judy will pack up and take to Boulder. She loves Indian art, as do I. She and former husband Andy Diaz lived in Pakistan for awhile and traveled through India.

Judy has a magnificent backyard, small but mighty. See the Buddha? She offered him to me but I already have one. There's also a fountain you can barely make out on the left against a wall, but I'd have nowhere to put it.

Photos of Judy's dear friends. Her best friend Judy Rosenthal was just married here at age 71. My Judy pointed out she's the most vibrant person in the photo, a charismatic woman with a lust for life.

A former schoolteacher, she was born with a congenital kidney problem and had a transplant at Penn when she was a vibrant 81. Two years later she was dead of cancer. The kidney belonged to a person who had cancer. Chances were good she would not get the disease but she did.

She had ignored all symptoms she was having and by then it was too late.

She was my Judy's best friend.

Here's Judy R with the love of her life. She must have drunk from the Fountain of Youth.

 Here's Judy's ex-husband, the late Andy Diaz, with their son Michael Diaz. Andy was the love of her life: "Can't live with him, can't live without him." He was a brilliant manic-depressive, who .......

It was hard saying goodbye to Judy. Dunno if I'll stop over again. It's a difficult ride down to Bensalem for me w/my propensity to get lost.

As a goodbye gift, I bought her a B&N gift card and mailed it off to her Arundel Way address, zipcode 19020.