Renewed Friendship!

Within a 5 month time span, I reconnected with three old friends on Facebook who I haven’t seen in 20 to 25 years. All three of these women friends were in my life when I was 19-years old—a time when I was lost and confused—clueless of what or where my future was headed. Clouded times. Somehow (my memory fails me) we lost touch, most likely because we were all trying to figure out our ‘niche in this world’ (I know, so cliché).

During my summer vacation, I had the opportunity to see each of these women. Although time has passed, and we aged, failed and succeeded at things, we just picked up from where we left off. The time lapse didn’t create any awkwardness. A few of us cried when we first saw each other, and then our youthful spunkiness came to life. We listened and talked about what happened since we last saw each other, and where life has brought us to now. Back in the day, all three of these women stifled some of my sadness because of the great times and private moments.

I used to play softball with one of these women. There was a bar on the south side of Chicago that sponsored women softball teams. Every Sunday, during one of the hottest, most humid Chicago summers I can remember, we were out on a baseball field. No one on our team was serious about playing—it was all about the drinking. We stood out in the field with a cigarette in one hand, and a drink at our feet. When the game ended, which we usually lost, we’d head on over to the bar for an afternoon of music and pitchers of lemonade and vodka. Today this woman is a chef, has a beautiful home, a husband, and more to come in cooking and publishing.

I knew the other two women from high school. One of the women I continued to hang out with into community college with … and we forgot about classes when it came to guys. We wound up meeting a bunch of guys in our first year of college—two of them becoming our boyfriends. One evening, spruced up in punk fashion, we headed downtown to a bar called Medusa. Throughout the evening, we mingled with others and danced all night. It was a magical night, and one I’ve never forgotten. Today this woman has a Master’s degree, she’s a wife, and a mother to four children.

Last but not least, the third woman and I did the goofiest things—one being a total blond moment. I told my husband this story a week before she contacted me on Facebook. When we were 19-years old, we were going to a homecoming dance at a college near the Iowa border. My friend and I didn’t feel like taking the bus, so I took her for her driver’s license, she post-dated checks to buy a car, and we took off to this college. We had a blast that weekend. While driving home, we were hung over and distracted from talking. When we finally stopped, three hours later, we found out that we were in Omaha, Nebraska. We got lost in Nebraska coming home from Illinois. Figure that one out. We had a quarter tank of gas left and we had $4.00 to our name. A couple felt bad for us and gave my friend some money. Needless to say, we arrived home 12 hours later. Today this woman and her husband own their own business and she’s the mother of two children.

As crazy fun as it was back then when we were together, it’s been a beautiful experience reconnecting. I feel like they are supposed to be in my life now. These three very different women blossomed into three incredible women, and I hope our reconnection will foster a new fun-filled friendship.

Friendships and Hugs,

Bea