Have you ever had one of those friends? One who keeps you surprised because you never know what to expect, and at the same time you expect them to rise above everything. This is my friend Cheryl, and she sure keeps me laughing.

“You know what I like about you Cheryl? The fact that we can talk about anything!” (Laughter)

This is what I declared last Tuesday night on our way back home from Tillsonburg. We had just finished a lively discussion about the British versus the American way of appropriating countries from Jamaica and the Virgin islands to Hawaii, Alaska and Cuba. In fifteen minutes, ha ha!

Cheryl can also be like a big sister to me, but she doesn’t play that “I’m a few years older” card on me, ever. Two weeks ago we were talking about our relationships with our daughters. We both have three children. I have a son and two daughters; she has a son, only one daughter and a younger son. We have lots in common yet we come from different backgrounds.

The most hilarious thing about her is she is a Minister’s wife. It just makes her huge socially and she has got to be the most diplomatic person I have ever met. She also manages the church choir and is a walking encyclopedia of musical facts. She also has a flare for dressing up to play parts – she owns two tickle trunks!

When I first met her in 2011, it was actually at Sharp Bus Lines. I had just gotten back from attending the Ukulele Ceilidh in Liverpool, Nova Scotia and had come into the office to reclaim my bus keys so I could go back to work on Tuesday. Cheryl was in the office too because, well, first of all she is one of their new driver trainers and secondly she was returning my bus keys because she covered my route for me. She ran around the counter and grabbed me by both arms, looked me strait in the eye and demanded to know where this uke group was. Like an interrogation. She was so excited and couldn’t wait to join.

Turns out Cheryl has been playing the ukulele ever since she heard Peter Gzowski on CBC Radio announce that he could teach anyone to play the ukulele in 10 minutes. When they came back from commercial break she was waiting for her first lesson, borrowed uke in hand. The year she joined our uke group she asked me if I wanted to perform a song with her for the upcoming theme song night, “Show Tunes”. She wanted to do “New York, New York.” (You know, by Sinatra) So we practice it a bit and get it down and she keeps telling me to remember to wear a suit jacket on performance night, etc.  Below is the outcome.

In case you are confused, Cheryl is Liza Minelli. 🙂 I am dressed the way I am because I didn’t understand the assignment! Seriously: I had no idea we could dress up for songs. Ever since then, we have been as thick as thieves. Below are some more pictures of our good times together. Read the captions for a description of the event.

And now, we are starting our own group in Tillsonburg. We are calling it the T’UkeS to stand for the Tillsonburg Uke Society. We are going to occupy a room at the Tillsonburg Station Arts Centre to teach beginners, and hopefully these people will form the basis of a group for us. You just never know!

Onwards and upwards!  Looking forward to this next chapter in both of our lives!