Reunion

Today was a good day. I had the chance to sit and chat with my very best friend growing up. I had a family of only brothers and she came from a family of 9 children with 6 girls. Needless to say I spent much more time at their house than my own. We met at her parents house, the same home she grew up in, just 2 doors down from me. I have not been back in that neighborhood for years. It was such a strange feeling. It was fun to see my old home and remember the many memories made there. I remember summer afternoons on bikes in the cul-de-sac playing cops and robbers and hide and seek. The summer evenings of night games. The porch where I received a date's good night kiss (or two). I felt so old explaining to Anna about the house I grew up in and which window was my bedroom... it reminded me of my childhood and my parents driving through what to me was an unfamiliar neighborhood, but to them a place so very poignant. More important than the homes in our little neighborhood was the friendship that still remains over all these years. It was so relaxing to sit and catch up on our own growing families as well as those of our siblings and old neighbors of long ago. One of my favorite moments was as I was getting ready to leave I was standing holding Kate, Jenny was standing bouncing her baby, and Mindy her older sister her baby. Wow, how life continues to go forward and change. While I reminisce of the innocence of a wonderful childhood in a wonderful, protected neighborhood where we all cared very much about one another, I love the naturall progession of things. It was a neat afternoon to reflect on things most important, the relationships with others we have and will continue to form. No money, job or house can replace those connections. While at times I find it difficult to express my love or affection to a friend, today was a day of just that. An hour to remember and rejoice in both trial and triumph, joys and sorrows. To put my arms around a dear friend and tell her I love her.