Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and feel good story lovers. The only down fall to this story is that there is no picture of the blind basset that brought them together! ROCKY! Oh well…..

Here is the story that came across as a google alert to me this Easter Sunday. It seemed very uplifting and fitting.

START OF STORY….

When Sue and Tom Miller moved from Snyder County, PN a couple of years ago, their intent was to downsize and settle within hugging distance of their grandchildren. They found a place in New Kingstown that felt like home and soon encountered Virginia Raudabaugh, their new next-door neighbor.

Virginia initially made fast friends with the Millers’ blind basset hound, Rocky. The dog treats she slipped him cemented the relationship.

For a while after the Millers moved in, Virginia, 81, had some health issues. But when she was feeling better, she invited Sue to join her for breakfast at the Silver Spring Diner.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Soon, Thursday breakfasts became a regular treat. Since Virginia is a Cumberland County native and Sue was just learning the ropes, they decided to explore while they searched out area eateries. They began keeping a list of where they’d eaten in order to prevent repetition. Soon they added a four-fork designation to places they enjoyed.

Before you could say “pancakes and sausage,” they’d become amateur restaurant critics. Their notebook now rates their breakfast stops with one to four forks and includes notes on how they arrived at the designation.

Sue, for example, can’t abide dirty windows. If the view isn’t clear, it reflects in the ratings.

You’ll find other criticisms in their book, such as “had to ask for silverware,” “sandwich wasn’t cut,” “priced high,” and “rather dark.”

You’ll also find an occasional photo of a friendly waitress and even a 1955 penny the ladies received in change.

“We laugh, oh my,” said Virginia. “This is as much fun as anything.”

The women have been known to set out for one place and get sidetracked by another. They also admit that getting lost can be part of the fun. They chuckle when they recall an hour and a half trip to Biglerville on a foggy morning. Sue explains the reason for their occasional loss of bearings: “She can’t remember and I don’t know.”

The women have wandered all around the midstate. Virginia, who worked for many years in a Carlisle dress shop, sometimes leads them in that direction. But they’ve traveled into Adams County and Dauphin and up to Perry.

On an excursion to the Brownstone Cafe in Middletown, Virginia, who grew up in New Cumberland, recalled visiting a Middletown cemetery with her mother as a child.

With a tiny bit of exploring, they found the graves of Virginia’s relatives.

“She went right to it. She found it,” Sue marveled.

The women invited me to join them in Camp Hill recently as they taste-tested omelets at their 50th breakfast.

Having reached a comfortable point in their relationship, Sue can admit now that the thought of moving to a town house after years in a single home had left her apprehensive about just who might live next door. She marvels at the closeness she feels with someone two decades her senior who just happened to be her neighbor.

“I don’t know why but we are so much alike,” Sue said. “It’s like it was meant to be.”

Virginia has grown children and grandchildren nearby who phone or visit daily, while Sue has those grandkids to hug in Mechanicsburg. But the day-to-day life of retirees can be pretty unstructured.

“Now I don’t have anything to do but bug my neighbor,” Virginia said, chuckling.

Oh, and plot the next 50 breakfast stops.

They promised to slow down long enough to call me when they reach 100.

END OF STORY!

What a nice article. As I see it, Rocky was the one that brought them together and started an endearing friendship.

So, in honor of Rocky….

Here is a picture of Emmers….

An out take from her birthday shoot!

I can see howl friends can be made over someone as beautiful as our Emmers…

More loving uplifting stories later…..Cat, Chaps and Emma

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