Why is it that we get so mellow and begin to reminisce about old friends and relationships this time of the year? I guess it is because it is the beginning a new year and we start thinking about things to keep and things to throw away, habits to get into and habits to discard, relationships to let go of and friendships to hang on to for dear life.
Old friends are definetly the most treasured gifts. I don't have a lot of really close friends, but the ones I do have I hold close to my heart.
Sandra is probably my closest and dearest friend. We have known each other most of our lives and became good friends after we both got married to nice Catholic boys. Our families have vacationed together, been through good times and bad, sickness and health, poorer and poorer. In a way I guess our families are married to each other. We have never been mad enough at each other to say "well this is it". Friends like this are hard to find.
Judy was my best friend in school and we lived next door to each other growing up. We were like sisters. We told each other secrets that no one else would ever know. We wore each others clothes ( the ones I could get into because she was so tiny and I was never that) and sometimes we fought like a couple of wild cats. I don't see Judy often now, but I always get a birthday card each year. When we do see each other we laugh and giggle and act nutty just like we did when we were kids. Friends like this keep you young.
Mary Sue is my neighborhood friend. Our kids played together growing up and are still friends. We have exercised together, dieted together and we both love to play the slots, so we have made more than a few trips to Tunica. I know she is just down the street and will come if I need her.
Friends like this make you feel secure.
Johnny was my best guy friend from my teenage years. He always accepted me and Judy for the nuts we were. We went to parties, movies, and just drove around on Court Street for hours on Saturday night. It was nice to have a guy friend to call when you couldn't get a date. Friends like this are fun to be around.
Diane lives in Ohio and I haven't seen her in fifteen or maybe twenty years. We became best buddies when we lived in the same apartment building when John and I moved to Ohio with K-mart. I would not have made it without her. John worked long hours and I had Johnny and she had Jody who was just a few months older than Johnny. I would get up and get John off to work and by 9:30 or 10:00 I would go over to her apartment. We would watch soap opras most of the morning, then I would go back to our apartment and fix John's lunch. I would head back to her place in the afternoon and watch more soaps. We would cook up new recipes ( Diane was really a good cook). I particularly remember fixing "Hot German potato salad". We must have ate a bucket full of that stuff. We made it every day for a week. One day I went over and she was making a standing rib roast ( I was impressed) because my cooking skills had not developed much past spaghetti and meatloaf.
I talked to Diane every couple of years, but when we do talk the conversation is easy and as if no time has lapsed since the last time. I talked to her this week and touched base with her about family and how she was spending her retirement time. It may be another couple of years before I talk to her but I know our friendship will remain the same. Friends like this make you feel connected by memories.
There are a few more friends, but these friendships are evolving as time goes on. Maybe they will in time become as important as the ones I have written about. Friends like this make you work at the relationship.
