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Friday, June 6, 2008

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with a high school friend - a friend I hadn't seen in five years, and only three times in the last twenty five. She looked great, and I might've allowed myself to believe that our being forty-plus was an illusion. She still has the same bright eyes, hearty laugh, and big, toothy smile of the teenager who spent many a sleepover on the shag carpet in my butterfly-wallpapered room. Best of buddies from seventh grade forward, we managed to stay out of trouble in spite of our best efforts to find it. We crushed the same junior high boys, Yankee players, and then approaching middle-age Beatles, Paul for her and George for me. Friends through Confirmation and Sweet Sixteen, we thought we were there through the major milestones of our lives. High school came and I evolved into the drama queen, she the band geek, and we found other partners-in crime. With the college years we got busy discovering ourselves, then our spouses, and then our kids. Years gone by, thousands of miles apart and yet we sat across her kitchen table yesterday, dishing the dirt as if the time hadn't passed.

Rare it is in life to find a friend like that, and I've been fortunate to have that happen again and again. First, I found my honeymooning kindergarten buddy, still the crazy West Coast friend who is too many time zones away. Then we junior high buds helped each other through the awkward development of body and soul. In college I found a friend who still keeps in touch long after the late night bagel orders and toga parties. Now I can count the friends of adulthood who give me the gift of their time not as teachers or as mothers or as wives, but as friends who can spend a lazy afternoon dishing the dirt across a kitchen table.

3 comments:

Cora Spondence said...

Being able to reconnect with old friends as if no time had passed, as if you had messed with the space time continuum, is a rare joy. What keeps us bound after years and miles and husbands and babies and all the miracles and messes of everyday life? Lifelong friendships are indeed a treasure. DiaBelo is much the same for me----being so far away, I do everything I can to clear my schedule to make time for real catching up. So glad you'll be able to meet my old friend!!
BTW, great piece on friendship!

Anonymous said...

Honeymoon Haiku

So proud and crazy
To be a part of your life
Makes me feel ferklempt

Missing you out west...

Anonymous said...

This is a great post. I love settling into great conversation with friends even when we haven't stayed in touch as well as we should.

I also feel lucky that I get to dish the dirt at your table so often.