My two best girlfriends from junior high school visited last week. We attended junior high and high school in Warren, Ohio, where my family lived for several years after leaving California. Janet lives in Camarillo, Ca and Donah lives in Darien, Connecticut and Naples, Florida. We have kept in touch and gotten together over the years and each time, it seems as if we fall into a rhythm of familiarity without missing a beat.We talked about our beloved families, grief and loss, sex and marriage, bodily functions, phase of life "issues," aches and pains, and anything else that free flowed from our minds and hearts. Well, we did avoid politics because the campaign year leading up to President Obama's election, strained and stretched our tethers to each other, but they could not be severed. Although we have significant differences around particular social and political beliefs, we recognize the compassionate core in each other, and this binds us like an egg to flour. Laughter threads its way in and out of our trio with such ease.
Hanging out by the pool, Donah pointed out to me as I was getting ready to take a dip, "Lor, I hate to tell you this, but you have your bathing suit top on inside out." I didn't even bother to look and said, "Oh, that's okay, I didn't want to wear a suit anyway." I tossed my suit aside and dove in, with Donah and Janet right behind me, doing the same. I mean, how many friends could you comfortably do that with? At this age?! And, NO, nobody was imbibing. We cracked up as we recalled our younger, firmer days when we threw caution to the wind at our favorite swimming holes, the pond and the quarry. We kept retrieving other memories of those days of youthful indiscretions, sometimes causing us to revel in hilarity and other times, making us cringe at the thought of some our choices! It is comforting to be around friends who know the whole of you, inside and out, and still love you without reservation. There is an intimacy that can only exist because of our long history of connectedness. For me, it is as soothing as a warm blanket on a comfy couch with a great book and a cup of tea. In my world, it doesn't get much better than that.
