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

Summer on Fire by Kevin Craig

It’s time I stop by my blog to let you all know that so far, during my relaxing summer, I’ve had the opportunity to read Summer on Fire by Kevin Craig. Summer on Fire is a young adult (YA) novel, which isn’t my usual reading genre, but I know Kevin from a writing forum and wanted to expand my reading horizons.

This book is about three friends, Jeff Barsell, Arnie Wilson and Zach Carson (the narrator), who are about to embark on the freedoms of summer only to be involved in a horrific fire. As the chain of events unfold, each friend battles their personal challenges along with the loyalties of friendship. In the end, Jeff, Arnie and Zach learn some valuable lessons about people and the lengths they’ll go to for community and friendship.

I enjoyed this book. From the first page, I was engrossed in the story by Kevin’s gift of bringing vivid actions of the story and characters to life. As the three friends scramble to get out of the burning barn, I felt myself praying for their safety. “Fire formed a hot umbrella of flames above us, swallowing the place…The roof beams, resembling the ribcage of a mammoth beast, were now engulfed.” I grew a love or hate relationship with each character and sympathized with some of their debilitating weaknesses.

I highly recommend Summer on Fire by Kevin Craig. It’s a coming of age book that reminds us again about  the importance of friendship and loyalty.

To Meet a Friend Among Words

.

I am so excited to go to the 2011 Printers Row Lit Fest. It is one of my favorite Chicago Fests and every year it gets bigger and bigger. The fest has discount, Indie, chain, and rare bookstores that line the curbs and the center of the streets. Since I’ve been going there, they’ve increased it to suit the whole family. If you click on the above link, you can get a calendar for Saturday and Sunday’s events.

What is even more exciting to me is meeting an online buddy of mine for the first time at the Lit Fest. In 2007, I met Barb on a writing forum we both belonged to. Of course we had alias’s, but over the course of time, Barb and I continued to talk—mostly outside of the writing forum. On the forum, we didn’t interact much, which is strange that we became friends. She is the one person who seems to enjoy the same types of books as I do.

Barb and I have sent each other emails for holidays, words of encouragement, condolences,  to say "Hi", BUT we’ve never met. This isn’t a one-way relationship; we support each other in life and writing. I can’t begin to explain how excited I am to meet her among one of the loves of our lives—books. We have so much catching up to do that I’m guessing we will wind up missing many of the booths.

There’s one important thing I want to point out, and that’s loyalty. Even though I’ve never met Barb, and even though we’ve only spoke through words (never heard her voice), she has been there for me as a writer and as a friend. That is HUGE in my life. She’s been a supporter of my writing for years, and I can’t begin to tell you how important support is to a writer. I have many people in my life that I love, but to them, my writing isn’t important, and I’m not saying it in a mean way—it just isn’t. We all have important things to us in our lives that aren’t to others. Such is life. And it’s especially nice to have a writer friend support you

Barb is a great writer. She puts much thought and emotion into what she wants to share with others, and you can see it in her writing.

So I’m ecstatic to meet Barb, and hear about her life, her love of books and her writing.

A Toast to Friendship! When you find true friends, near or far, hold onto them—they’re a rarity.

To A Friend!

I am returning to the blogging world, but wanted to dedicate this post to a dear friend. Veejay is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life, and I wish I could do more for him.

My birthday was August 7, and the week before my birthday I received a package in the mail. I knew it wasn’t from a family member, or long-time friend, so it was a huge surprise to say the least. I brought it upstairs, unwrapped it and took out a framed picture of the 2005 Chicago White Sox World Series along with a little dirt from the field in a casing and silver logo. This wonderful man sent me this gift saying he remembered from my blog that I was a White Sox fan.

I cried. Not because of the gift, which was wonderful, but for the thought. To me, it means so much to have someone remember a special day, or event of mine. Gifts are always wonderful to receive, but knowing Veejay remembered my birthday and that I was a White Sox fan meant  so much more. My smile lasted for days, and I will never forget Veejay’s generous gesture and his continued caring. It matters to matter to someone.

I’m fortunate enough to know him, and proud to call him my friend. Here’s to you Veejay though I wish it was more.

To A Friend

Curled up in a subconscious recess of dreams

Lies hope, knowing there are sparkling beings

Ring out like a bell tower throughout our span

Empower generosity, it came from one man.

Pessimism may want a few chorus chords

Great friendships use time to compose concertos

Fairy dust accumulates on those of high merit

Such a rarity to find, more luck to inherit.

Zipper Effect

Mean sky.  Brutal rain.  Wind asking for attention.  Within a half hour chairs flew, people took cover, and the train rocked against the anger of Mother Nature.  She had no sympathy on Friday, and refused to remain silent as we went about our lives.  I sat watching objects fly about until the rain coated the windows and the wind got into a shoving match with the train.  During my journey, things eased to a brooding mode until I made it home and then another tantrum began. 

Mother Nature caused a zipper effect.  I remained indoors watching her crack tree branches, dump water in large quantities and throw lightning through the sky.  Such fury had me wonder if Zeus’s Aphrodite denied Mother Nature of love, because that’s what I was denied the next day.  My cable was out, which consequently cut me off from the internet until early this morning.  The internet is the only cheap mode of communication I have with the love of my life.

As time sauntered through a day of recovery, I felt zipped up tight unable to chat, check emails, or do anything else I rely on the internet which turns out to be plenty.  The idea of not having television didn’t bother me, but my dependency on the internet is like a drunk to the bottle.  I write, network, read, send and receive emails, and interact with people across the street or many miles away.  I’ve built friendships with a click of a button and now Mother Nature pushes me indoors and zips me up from the world.

But sometimes a zipper effect isn’t so bad.  It leads us to dialogue without technology, and allows us to be free for a moment from everything else in the world.  We can forget about violence, oil spills, a politician’s snafu, a celebrity’s addiction, and focus on ‘us,’ so when we unzip, we have a better understanding of ourselves.

What weather conditions created a zipper effect for you?