So close and yet so far

Like many of you, this past weekend was spent remembering Fran Galiardo. This morning the words to that song came to mind, "so close and yet so far". That described my relationship with Fran. We were close through social media, yet we lived so very far apart and never got the chance to meet.

The first time I saw Fran was at a Philadelphia concert years ago. Although I didn't know it at the time, I was sitting just a few seats to her right. When Barry picked someone to dance with, he chose Fran. Not knowing her, I snapped this picture. It wasn't until just recently that we realized we were both there and the picture of the dance girl was her. You can imagine her excitement since she didn't know there were any photographs out there taken by others. I happily emailed her a copy.

Then she shared some of her own pictures of that moment with me. I like to think of her that way--happy and smiling.

That's the thing with the Manilow world--many of us are close (we know about each other's families, their struggles, and we pray for them), but yet so far. We never get the chance to meet in person, but it doesn't mean we don't consider them friends. Friendships were formed because of Barry but they grew because we opened our lives and shared them with others.

I hope we all take a moment and tell those friends how much they mean to us. I wish I had told Fran, because now I can only tell others. She made me smile every single time I talked to her. We shared a baseball rivalry, we both adored our children, and of course, we loved Barry's music. 

I hope one day to meet those who are "so close and yet so far"...but until then I want you to know that YOU have changed my life in more ways than I can even enumerate.

Love across the miles,
Texas Fan