Charles's Friends - Betty Ward

<BODY BGCOLOR="pink" TEXT="navy" LINK="yellow" VLINK="white" ALINK="turquoise"> <H2>Betty J. Ward, my best friend</H2> <P> <IMG SRC="wardplay.gif" ALIGN="LEFT" BORDER="11" HSPACE="15"> </P> <P>Pink is Betty's best color. When she wears it, her face is warm, alive, and vibrant. It becomes her like warm breezes become summer.</P> <P>I have known Betty since I came home to Long Beach, California after leaving the Air Force in 1972. I wandered into the Long Beach Bridge Club and encountered Betty's special brand of tenacious-but-ever-friendly competition, followed by her unique hostess-to-the-world camaraderie. She found out that I had learned to play backgammon (in addition to bridge) and asked me if I would teach her. She and I have been regular backgammon opponents ever since. On any given Sunday, you can usually find me sitting at the table you see here, enjoying watching Betty's brain crank away. Win or lose, sitting across the table from Betty is one of my favorite places to feel the closeness of my best friend.</P> <P>I'm hardly unique, though. To say that Betty loves the world is only a slight exaggeration. In her former neighborhood, they threw her a block party when they found out she was about to move away.</P> <P>I wish you could know her as I do. After a while you would acticipate my mischievious anticipation as I wait to hear her say one of her favorite phrases. Such as...</P> <UL> <LI>"<A HREF="ohright.wav">Oh, right</A>."</LI> <LI>"<A HREF="swell.wav">Swell</A>."</LI></UL> <P> <A HREF="friends.htm"><IMG SRC="arobrni.gif" ALT="back to charles's home page">Back to Charles's Friends Page</A></P> <EMBED SRC="mood5.mid" HIDDEN="TRUE" AUTOSTART="true" LOOP="true" VOLUME="200"></BODY>