My Friend Toby

Over the years, Toby Ann has often been Ethel to my Lucy. She’s always there no matter what. Toby and I waitressed at a coffee shop called Kim’s Copper Kettle in high school a lifetime ago. We both dated cooks. Since we didn’t live far from each other we stayed friends long after we broke up with Tim and Dave. We both stayed single long after most of our friends married. We became each other’s safety net. You see, when you’re single in Los Angeles and you live alone it’s important to have someone to check in with. Otherwise, rogue cloggers from Wales could kidnap you and no one would know. It was nice to talk to someone on the phone when you were eating dinner so you didn’t always have to eat alone. And it was terrific to have someone to go antiquing, treasure hunting at garage sales or the movies when neither one of you had a date. Together we’ve dabbled in plumbing, tiling projects, refinishing furniture, painting our houses, gardening, endless baking and in times long gone by, we used to languish on the sofa, Diet Cokes™ in hand (mine with caffeine, hers without) we’d watch the entire ABC soap line-up, “All My Children” followed by “One Life to Live” and last but not least “General Hospital” Ahh Luke and Laura.  – Of course that was way before real jobs, houses or children - back when Tad Martin could solve everything. (Truth be known, in times of need I still turn to Tad.)

    There are a couple of things you need to know about Toby. First, never ever under any circumstances whatsoever touch her “Martha Stewart Living” magazines. She has every single copy, as she was an original subscriber. If you damage even one page she WILL hold a grudge. If you should make her angry, back away slowly and wait until she calls. It could be a quite a while, but you don’t want to rush her or you’ll regret it. Oh, and always make sure to carry a little snack with you – she needs an afternoon treat or she gets cranky. If you follow these simple rules you can’t ask for a more loyal friend.
Strangely, upon return from a family vacation in Alaska with my sister Lisa and her family, I announced to Toby when she came by my house to drop off Dean to play with Henry that I’d gone on www.findyourspot.com and was thinking of moving to Washington. She smiled, and said “That’s odd because we just bought a farm on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.” I don’t think I could have been more surprised. I could swallow Toby who was an active script supervisor who worked on “Monk” and her husband, Eric who’d been working for sometime on “24” leaving it all and buying an organic farm. Toby’s homey, she knits socks, sews curtains, makes her own crackers and owns a spinning wheel she actually uses, so I could see her moving to a rural farm.