One of our friends we met in the summer of 2013 when we were first here was Dryden. By far our oldest friend, he was a mere 90 years old then and not in the best of health (which probably goes without saying) but was he ever a joy to spend time with! We didn't agree at all on our politics so it was important that we tread lightly in that area, but anything else we could talk about. Dryden was in the Air Force in his early twenties and spent some time in the Kansas City area then. He still vividly recalled his favorite places in our home town and often talked of the Plaza and the beautiful homes on Meyer Boulevard. When we were planning to drive from Ajijic to Kansas City at the end of that summer, he recommended the best boarder crossing for us and gave us a detailed overview of what we'd find at that crossing - even though it had been many years since he'd made the trip himself. But the best part of spending time with Dryden was his stories of the experiences he and Gudrun shared. It seems Dryden came from a very well established and comfortable east coast family. His first marriage seemed to be the expected one. But then he divorced and later met Gudrun, the unconventional and very memorable woman that would be his wife through the end. Gudrun doesn't care about expensive clothing, and she cuts her own hair. She doesn't have time to be bothered with trips to the spa for manis and pedis, but she somehow always manages to look beautiful. She is passionate about her causes and is not above ruffling some feathers if someone gets in her way. The stories he told of their experiences always entertained us, made us laugh and endeared him to us. And she and Dryden led a wonderful, adventurous and non-traditional life until he took his last breath on January 14th - one month shy of his 92nd birthday. When he died, Gudrun found the napkin that she'd given Dryden with her name and phone number on it at their first meeting. He'd recognized the significance of that encounter, and saved this napkin the rest of his life.
Matt and I were fortunate to have dinner with them a week before he died. It was difficult for Dryden to go out by then, so we took dinner to them. Dryden was a joy as always, his appetite was good and he had a couple glasses of his favorite red wine. He started to broach the subject of the 2016 elections with us, and Matt had to warn him off. So he just changed the subject and moved on. We are so glad we had that last evening with him and Gudrun. Now that he's gone, it seems the women who know him talk about his kindness and gentleness. The men who knew him say he reminded them of their fathers (or sometimes the fathers they wish they'd had).
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| Nacho, Syd & Dryden |
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| Dryden & Gudrun |
