Old Friends

Here I am, living again in my old hometown, and yet I NEVER see any of my high schoolclassmates (except Dan the letter-carrier). Fortunately, some girls who moved away still return to visit their folks and then we spend a few hours together and it is as if we are 16 years old again.

Last night was a GIRLS' NIGHT OUT with old friends. We enjoyed the cuisine at the new Mexican restaurant in town while reminiscing. For the first time we were all able to add "grandmother" to our CV. As always, a couple of us remember almost nothing about high school, while others remember EVERYTHING. I was a "townie", the others share the experience of country schools. I also stayed home reading instead of partying so, in some cases, I simply was not present for many of the events being remembered.

God, I love these women! All of us have lived in other places though only two of us are back in the hometown now. Retirement, hard work, financial struggles, single parenting, widowhood, divorce, death of parents and children, loss of dreams, dreaming new dreams, grief, joy, ...the human condition right there in that group of women from the midwestern farm community.

Another old friend

My best friend from high school couldn't make the get-together last night, so we had lunch today at the new Mexican restaurant. The same friendly hostess from last night recognized me and made us comfortable when we practiced our Spanish. My friend lives in NYC and I have had Latina clients so perhaps our accents were not hopelessly Midwestern (who am I kidding?). I love the extreme peace and quiet of this little burg and my friend had the opportunity to chat with John Travolta recently at her job in NYC. Isn't it nice that we can meet on the common ground of shared memories?

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