Monday, November 11, 2019

When You're Thankful and You Know It, Clap Your Hands

When I think of all the things that I am most grateful for, I always count my friends twice. I know how fortunate I am to have them in my life, and, I say a prayer of thanks for them every day. This weekend, I got a chance to spend time with Jules, who, you may remember, is one of The Girls, my lifelong posse of besties.

Jules and I spent an evening in, reminiscing about the past, musing about the future, and catching each other up on the present. We looked through old albums, bemoaning the fact that there are so many people in our old photos whom we can not, for the life of us, remember clearly. Names escape us, despite the photographic evidence that we once found these people entertaining enough to hang out with, so, we did the logical thing; we called in reinforcements, by texting and messaging the rest of The Girls, as well as some other college friends. I'm sad to say; even with that level of support, we still came up short on several identifications. Oh, well.

Thanks to a heroic effort on Hugh's part, we were able to watch an ancient video on VHS (he literally went on a search for our old television set that has a built-in VHS player, wrestled it out of the armoire it was stored in, and hauled it downstairs so we could watch). The video is a compilation of the trip that we all took to Las Vegas in 1993, just prior to my, and Reece's weddings, and both of the rehearsal dinners and weddings, as well as Jules' wedding.

There was a lot of back-and-forth with The Girls during the viewing and a ton of laughter, as well as a few misty-eyed moments. We were reminded of things we had forgotten, as well as of the fact that, as much as we have all grown and changed, our love for each other remains as strong as ever. Stronger, actually.

Jules had to leave yesterday, and I missed her the minute she pulled out of the driveway. I am grateful for every chance that I get to spend with these amazing friends of mine, as well as for the technology that allows us to be "together", even when we are far apart.

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out- Walter Winchell


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