Day 144
This week I spent time with old friends. It truly was wonderful and, as is said, good for the soul.
Very good, in fact.
Over the weekend and early in the week I unpacked boxes. Yes, I’m still unpacking boxes. I had 60 some for the living room alone! Egad. Anyway, I didn’t look up the boxes on my inventory list (yes, I have one!) before I opened them so it was like opening presents on Christmas morning that the “dogs” bought me. Of course, I’D go get stuff for myself, wrap it up and put it under the tree … and because I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast, come Christmas morning I’d be actually surprised that there were things under the tree for me from … the dogs! How thoughtful of them! And then I’d open up the gift and remember getting it and even though I bought it myself – it was still somewhat of a surprise!
That’s how unpacking has been. I know I packed these boxes (some back in 2010) but as I unwrapped the contents it was like coming home again and seeing old, long-lost friends.
“Oh,” I’d think as I unwrapped the small bronze statue of 3 pigs holding hooves like they were singing Ring Around the Rosie, “I like these guys!” And so it went … the old childhood books, the porcelain cow bowl, the blue dinosaur Sam made in 3rd grade. All old friends. It was nice to see them again and lovingly set them on the library shelves.
Also this week I saw other old friends. Actual people … my two closest girlfriends from the old high school days. They took me to dinner (wonderful Italian place … oh, it was SO yummy) and we chatted and laughed and got caught up and ended our lovely evening with mocha crunch gelato. Now, how much better could that have possibly gotten?
And today, I had lunch with a sorority sister who drove the 90 minutes to see me and my new humble abode. And she brought me a lilac bush. And she bought me lunch. And it was absolutely soul satisfying to share time with this wonderful friend whom I have not seen in years – and yet we picked up like we had lunch last week and talked yesterday. What an enduring friendship.
I’ve been playing phone tag with my former neighbor … she is 21 years my senior and yet we are soul-sisters. I miss her immensely and she is one of those people who I could sit for days with and never run out of anything to say. When the kids were little there were times when I’d tell my family I was “going to Carole’s” meaning I was just going over to say hi and chat “just for a minute”. HOURS later we’d realize the time and have a good laugh. Tim had put the kids to bed or started dinner or whatever … and they all understood and it was lovely. She moved from the ‘hood 10 years before I did and living next to that house without her was never the same.
Old friends. There’s nothing quite like it.