“OH, Help me Jesus” Cathy seriously exclaimed more than a few times during the night….Mike would just roll his eyes with a ’ Yeah’ (as if to say here we go again). Whilst Carsen, Barbara, Mark and Lauchlan just nodded in agreement/empathy with Mike. Here we go ………. Cathy is going to play THAT ‘card’ AGAIN!!! Friday nights with the Martin’s, games, food, games & coffee (and more food). Our Friday night ritual of playing a completely addictive card game called ‘five crowns’ upstairs at Starbucks Kusadasi, Turkey. Or commonly known as ‘Casino Night’ by the staff of Starbucks…….. Starting at approx. 7pm and normally going to closing time, or until we were given the polite nudge, ‘time to go home’ by Staff sweeping around our feet, the lights dimmed low, and/or the front doors locked!!. It was the battle of the Canadians verses the Aussies. Competitive, infinitely so, we all wanted to at least once wear the winner’s crown (we would play 2 – 3 games per night mind you). We all new however, that when Cathy was ‘buoyed up” and focused to win, out came the cry from Cathy…(we called it the Jesus card). In retrospect the ultimate and unfair advantage…it was a card game, but nope, Cathy allways new when she called on the name of Jesus, amazing things happened even playing cards!!...Oh and of course, we all knew we were finished at that point, and started to focus thoughts on our ‘decadent desert’ break time, and of course, the Starbuck boys would go over board to make us some lovely coffee’s to go with the desert! . We allways laughed heartily Friday nights, besides the fun we had playing, socialising, talking, eating….we would chuckle over the fact that to get into the Port of Kusadasi where Starbucks is located, we would have to go through x-ray machines & security guards( with machine guns). Funnily we were never stopped, and allways greeted with ”Ah casino night?”, never mind the whopping big carving knives in our x-rayed hand bags, we would bring for our decadent deserts, and never ever get stopped or even questioned. Strange but true. God smiles, his favour on us all! The event was allways heralded a few days before by what us Aussies called ‘Trash talking’…… it involved a barrage of email, Facebook posts and texts…. Just hilarious! Depending on what type of week we had dictated on the amount of trash sent back and forth from each family. Maybe the occasional voice message from Mark…..’it’s on, be there or be very square’.. Or just a simple text when either party least expected it…. Over the years, our friendship blossomed. As living in a foreign country with totally different cultural expectations there are times of joy, heartache and frustration. These nights were important particularly to us all, a family venue to ‘vent’ and release, but more importantly to a share friendship. We bonded as two families, we laughed, cried and ate cake and drank sooooo much coffee. We shared meals, special moments, and supported each other. Just the laughter when Mike, Carsen and our son Lauchlan (after our card game) would sometimes play a weird hand slapping game …. It looked and sounded very painful, but I don’t think they even cared… watching them they were like 3 young boys just having a huge laugh. For us all, we had & shared JOY! In this picture you will see a well-worn and well used pack of the game ‘five Crowns’. This was the actual game that was given to us by Mike and Cathy to bring back to Australia with the hope of playing again one day. This pack means more to us than just a pack of cards, it represents love, joy, & an unforgettable friendship shared with a beautiful couple! Below is a Facebook post that was posted after just one ‘battle’, and an exceedingly fun night…like most others we shared! March 19, 2010 ***NEWS FLASH***Reuters News have advised that a skirmish took place in the Turkish village of Selcuk last evening STOP It was reported on the street that two clans were at battle STOP The Martin and the Gannon clans originally met for a peaceful meeting, which lost control later in the night STOP a member of the Gannon clan was seen limping away after an dreadful thrashing STOP Apparently injuries were sustained all round STOP The word on the street is that the 5 Crowns were retained by the Martin clan, only just STOP Apparently the issue is not resolved and discussions are to take place in the near future. STOP ***NEWS FLASH JUST TO HAND*** further to recent reports of last night’s skirmish over the 5 Crowns, a member of the Gannon Clan was reported saying " I may have sustained a thrashing, but in the words of Arnie...."I'll be back" '- comments were received by Barbara Gannon, Australian STOP We are waiting for confirmation of the evenings events from the Martin clan STOP Comments made by the Canadians are as reported from Cathy Martin who quoted: ‘lol, you guys are hilarious! Well, I’m going to hone my skills and make a comeback! You guys name the time and the place…we’ll make it happen” end quote! Cathy Martin finished by commenting that they enjoyed the evening by the way, that “you guys are a party in yourselves, lol” Cathy, you and I (Barbara) became such good mates! We shared such funny moments together, (picking up a staff member after a massage at some big hotel and driving them home to Selcuk, where we were invited to meet the family, drink chai, of course…Cathy made good friends with this lovely woman. This was not an unusual course of events for Cathy!). We could talk openly together of our walk with God, our challenges at times, we could agree & disagree and love each other’s rights to have a differing opinions. That’s what friendship is about, and we shared that in mountainous loads! So, Cathy Martin, this is not goodbye……just you wait for the day when we get together again, what a hoot it will be, in the meantime….all of heaven is enjoying the pure joy of you! PS. Cathy…..Mark is still shuffling …..for the next card game, and he says you better get your game on! Love you girl….we will rejoice at seeing you again! The Gannons : Mark, Barbara, Lauchlan (Jackson and Milo)