My wife Stephanie and I had the pleasure of meeting Steve and Gail back in the late 1980's. Our sons playing baseball brought us together as coaches. Our families were a mirror image both having a son and daughter of similar ages. We hit it off from the start. When baseball ended after that first season our friendship continued for many years. Dinner at the Machias house or at our home in Lake Stevens would lead into hours of fun, stories and of course, beverages. On one particularly wet spring evening we had dinner together accompanied by too much "celebration". The kids were all playing in their respective rooms. Wanting to get out of the house and enjoy the sound of the rain we ventured down the street on a walk with beverages in hand. We quickly found that not only were we getting soaked, but that our "roadies" were running dry. We found a huge cedar tree about a block away and nested under that tree listening to the rain. We'd take turns running back to the house for refills getting wetter and wetter on every trip. Then back under our cedar tree sanctuary. The kids thought we were crazy but were enjoying their bonus time together. That story comes up often. We'd drive by that tree almost every day and think of our times together. That was about 33-years ago and the memory will stay with us forever.