Two mornings in a row it’s been too hot to walk. I convinced my husband to kick with me in the pool. He set his timer for 30 minutes and off we went. I didn’t want to swim freestyle because I had just washed my hair. I know that sounds prissy, but I can’t stand washing my hair every day. So I put my hair up and kicked until my lower back hurt and my legs got sore.
A really cool coincidence is friends from Palm Springs moved one mile from us in Arizona three months after we moved. This was without knowledge of each other moving. The friend and I were school moms at the Catholic school our kids attended. They lived only a few blocks from us in Palm Springs and I golfed weekly with this friend.
We lost touch with each other when we both got hyper involved with our kids’ sports. My kids were swimmers — their kids were hockey players.
Hockey led them out of town to Anaheim where there was a competitive team. We lacked hockey in Palm Springs.
This past weekend they invited us over for a birthday party. We spent a couple hours sitting and standing in the pool while wasps swarmed around us. My friend’s husband stood in the pool with a can of Raid trying to keep the wasps at bay. It was a fun afternoon, but today I have sunburned hands.
My husband said everyone but me kept their hands in the water. I apparently talk with my hands. We were laughing and talking and I was gesturing all over the place. I’ve never had sunburned hands before.
The weekend before we had them over and I cooked sea bass, grilled corn on the cob, asparagus and a brown and wild rice dish. It was another fun night of friendship and laughter.
I feel a connection to this couple unlike the new friends I’ve made in our neighborhood through book club, the newsletter and coffee. It’s because we go back for decades, raised our kids together and have shared memories. It’s also amazing that we ended up in homes so close together because we are out in the sticks a good 30-minute drive north of Scottsdale.
What friends do you feel the most connection with and why?
Fate…
I’m thankful to have them in our lives.
My three college friends because they’re my ride or die and know where all the bodies are buried. My friend M who I used to work with and we formed a team because there were few female execs. My friend S because we met when the kids were in pre k, our daughters are besties, and we shared all the highs and lows of childhood. My other friend S because we can just pick up where we left off no matter how long since we’ve seen one another
I have close college friends too. Plus a couple childhood friends and ones from raising my kids. The ones you keep along the journey add so much.
💗
I pulled up to meet a friend at her campsite and the first words out of her mouth were ‘Do you realize we’ve been friends for 40 years?” I said “Wow, you’re old!” haha! But we came back to the topic several times during the day, noting how special it is to have friends who have loved you through the years – through all the trials and joys, thicks and thins, and the dulldrum in between. New friendships are great, and some will eventually last until they’re old friendships, but the ones that have already stood the test of time are a huge gift.
That is so true! I’m surrounded by new people here, that is was a joy to discover an old friend living one mile away.
What a nice coincidence.
I have a feeling our friendship will continue to grow. Our children all live in the Bay Area and they are rekindling their friendships too.
That’s real nice. Nothing like old friends
That is really nice to keep old friends. I have a few from my time overseas I keep in contact with and hope to meet up with again. As for high school, harder as is college as my college was on the East Coast.
I have one high school friend who I get in touch with when I go home and visit my mom. She also would visit me in Palm Springs. The rest have moved.
We have a slew of old friends that we’ve stayed in touch with through the years. Some are from college but most are people we met through our kids at the various schools and sports. Love the old friendships especially the ones that just pick up as if no time has passed. But I love meeting new people who inhabit my life today. Great post! Hugs, C
Thank you for your kind words. I’ve stayed in touch with several college friends, but same as you most friends we met through our kids sports and schools.
I connect best and easiest with friends, old or new, who have life experiences similar to mine.
Definitely. I think the shared experiences makes a friendship easy.