Our Friends During a Pandemic
I first met Joe Friedman in the Summer of 2017 when I brought down a load for our move from Utah to Gilbert, Arizona. He lived across the street with his wife Merle Morgenstern. I was impressed with Joe's friendliness and desire to get to know his new neighbors. Annie was not with me on this trip but I told Joe a little about her and that she was French. The first time he met her he greeted her with a hearty 'bonjour.' When we moved in on the 1st of September 2017, Merle and Joe came over to say hello and to allow us to meet Merle. They brought some lovely flowers, and we were both impressed with their youthfulness and good cheer. It was not long after that we invited them to dinner, and that began a warm and beautiful 4x4 friendship. I say 4x4 because it is rare that two couples mix and blend so easily and comfortably with each other. While our backgrounds are different (they Jewish and we Mormons) we came to recognize that we connected with them and they with us i...