I’ve written my Memory and Meaning proposal for my photography “Art Studio” class. My subject as I’ve said is sea glass, first choice. Back up plan is birds. This is one of my first sea glass pictures, taken outside in the morning light. I wrote about my sea glass project HERE.
We’ve had more than our usual social outings lately. It’s because our good friends and neighbors have been out of town — and then we were out of town. We wanted to connect and get together before we go our separate ways again. It’s busier than I enjoy, but there have been some moments that really touched me.
AI Overview:
Social life refers to an individual’s time spent interacting with other people and the quality of those relationships, often involving activities for pleasure or enjoyment with friends, family, and the broader community. A person’s social life can include both in-person and online interactions and is shaped by the bonds they form and the social opportunities available to them.
I went to a baby shower for a woman who was a swimmer with my kids on the Palm Springs swim team. She earned a swim scholarship at ASU, broke the 200 free record, and now teaches elementary school in the Phoenix area. Her husband does electrical work for us and we’ve had them over for dinner.
I was so excited to see her, her sister and her mom. The mother-to-be is four years older than my oldest, but they all hung out together at the pool. Her sister is a year older than her, but I have the best memories of being at swim meets, so impressed with these sisters. They would engage the youngers under pop up tents playing cards, games and being silly at swim meets.
When I told my kids I was going to her baby shower, they both said, “We love them!” That’s saying something more than 15 years later from being swim teammates.
Back in the day, this mom took me under her wing and taught me all about being a swim mom. She showed me the ropes of volunteering at swim meets and what jobs were the best ones to sign up for. We’d host Friday through Sunday swim meets in Palm Springs with close to 750 swimmers. Maybe even bigger. That meant there would also be a mom, dad — even grandma and grandpa — for each swimmer. We had a snack bar that would serve breakfast and lunch for all those people.
We had a separate area of food for the coaches, around 50 of them. Our team had a reputation for the best food ever in Southern California for swim coaches. There were two reasons for this. (REASON ONE) Chef Francois from the Ritz Carlton was a swim dad. His daughter was one of our daughter’s swim friends. He prepared the coaches’ meals (REASON TWO) which was prime rib, turkey dinner and yes, LOBSTER. Another swim dad free dove for lobster off the Southern California coast and took his kids and their friends to assist in the catch.
All those memories came rushing back when I walked into the baby shower and got hugs from the sisters and the mom. How wonderful to reminisce, be around younger people that I truly love and the mom who I spent so much time with. We sat and talked during swim practices and worked together at meets. I didn’t realize how much I value these friendships from my swim mom days.
Below: Finches at the birdbath.
What do you consider a busy social life?
Do you like being quiet staying at home, or being out and about busy?
What friends from your past do you still see?
JoyRoses13 from Nuggets of Gold wrote a fun story on her blog using my photos of Red plus pictures from another photographer. You can read it HERE.
It brought me so much joy reading your old memories, E.A., and I also loved the story of Mr. Red and friends. How fun!
I have a pretty quiet social life but it is nice, every so often, to spend quality time with friends and family.
That story was so cute. JoyRoses13 writes stories several times a week. I don’t know how she comes up with so many ideas! I’m glad you enjoyed my memories. That is such a nice family that I’m grateful we’ve stayed in touch through the years. There are only a few others from my parenting days that I still talk to.
I think that I’m the “little goes a long way” sort when it comes to socializing! Small bits are enough. Sounds like you had a great time though with old friends and memories. I just had a very old friend reach out, actually through my ex husband, which was odd in some ways but also makes sense given that her older brother sort of knows the ex. She chose a very different life which in many ways led to our drifting apart after high school. It was very unexpected to hear from her.
I like your description of a little goes a long way. That’s how I am, too. Our vacation had too much socializing and then more of the same when we got home. The shower with old friends and memories really warmed my heart, though. How strange to have someone reach out through your ex.
I think she found him on Facebook, which I am not on, and took the chance that he would pass on her info to me, which he did.
That makes sense. I used to be on FB all the time. I don’t think I’ve looked at it more than once this year. I do like having it to look back on all the photos and things I posted while my kids were growing up.
Love catching up with friends like that. It reminds us of the importance of our connections. So happy for you Elizabeth.
Thanks! I almost backed out because I had vertigo and it was a 45 minute drive. My sweet husband (first time I’ve called him that 😅) said he’d drive me! He knew I should go. When he came back to pick me up, they invited him in to eat. He loved seeing our old friends, too.
Glad you were able to still make it. And cheers to your husband. Sometimes us husbands know what we’re doing . . . some times. Ha, ha.
Once in awhile the husbands pull through!
A busy social life is when I have plans with people other than my husband and daughter more than four times a week. I like being out and about, but I like to be home by 9pm, 10 latest. I like being home for a few hours if no one else is here. I have the same three best friends since I’m 18. My three other close friends I’ve know for almost 30 years.
We had four social things in one week, which is way too much for me. Plus my zoom call yesterday morning and photography class at night. A conversation came up during class about seeing boxes of photos and albums in thrift stores. I brought up your story! I too have a few friends from childhood and college that I’m still connected to. It’s so nice!
What did your class think about finding photos and then exhibiting them?
They were against it. Especially when I told them the context. The professor said it was similar to a famous photographer (sorry I can’t remember her name). A box of her photos of self portraits and personal photos was found in a thrift shop. She was very private and never showed photos of herself or exhibited these. The person bought them all and then published them all around the world. This is while the photographer was alive. I don’t know how the photos ended up in a thrift shop.
Ive heard people often forget they have storage lockers. But yeah …you have to wonder if an ex did it
Both are a possibility!
What wonderful connections with those swim team friends. I love how involved you were with your kids activities. That is a great sign that your kids liked these kids 15 years later. How heartwarming!
Wonderful is exactly how I felt seeing them again. Also, the older sister has a one-year-old and the mother to be’s baby is due in November. The cousins will be fortunate to grow up together!
How lovely to meets long time friends. It is really wonderful as it brings back so many wonderful memories.
It really did bring back great memories. I was being introduced to the other guests and when they found out I was from the swim team days, they said, “Oh you’re family!”
That’s really awesome 💞😍
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Baby showers and beautiful birds…so good! I feel fortunate that I’ve managed to stay in touch with folks from many different eras in my life and I’m grateful for it. Sending Friday hugs your way, Elizabeth! 💝
Thank you for the hugs. I’m glad you enjoyed my bird photos and I loved the baby shower and reconnecting with friends. I can picture the older sister laying down on her back under the pop up tent with pom poms, making up pretend cheers while we all laughed.
🥰❤️🥰
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I’m a homebody who was expected to socialize almost every weekend when my husband was working full-time as a lawyer. I can be extroverted and chat, but it isn’t my preferred way. Now that he’s fully retired, we stay home most weekends.
What friends from your past do you still see? I see some college friends and one high school friend. We have drifted away from everyone else. And that’s okay.
That would have been tough to do all the socializing when you didn’t really want to. My husband, an investment advisor, has clients we enjoy and are good friends with. I love socializing with them. The clients I don’t know, I never liked the prospect of having to go out. Here’s to staying home most weekends!
Thanks again for sharing my link and for your beautiful photos.
Wonderful about you connecting with special friends from your past. Friends are indeed precious 💓
I like to socialize a few times a week with friends, and I like to go out with my husband and kids as well, but I do like my down time of being at home. I need the solitude.
I still keep in touch with my friend from when we were 10 years old!! Supposed to be visiting each other soon. Can’t wait!! My other best friend I met when we were 19! She was the one who went to the beach with me this summer and ended up sleeping in her car. Oh, our memory box keeps getting fuller! 😊
I loved your story and was happy to share a link! I need solitude, too. But I also enjoy seeing friends. I had a friend since three years old that we were very close our entire lives, but lost touch the past few years. But I reconnected with a friend I met in grade school and we visit each other. She would come to Palm Springs and I’d stay with her in our hometown. Very fun!
Awesome! 💕
I like your questions! Sometimes I ask questions but no one answers them. We were out and busy yesterday. We had a delightful time in St. Pete but we were both happy to be home again and with the little one, the black pug, Razz! And the older hand, Iago. I still see a friend I first met in grad school 25 years ago. She lives in our city.
That’s so nice to see an old friend. I have one friend I met when my son, 31-years-old, when he was in kindergarten. They moved to Arizona from Palm Springs three months after us! I love seeing them and it’s not stressful or a chore. We live one mile from each other when the area is huge and has 6 million people!
My social life is about one outing a week. Busy is two. Crazy is three!! I rarely get to crazy, since I am such a homebody. I’ve reconnected with a high school friend with a few personal visits (me going to California) and occasional Zoom. I also Zoom with a friend I worked with here 30 years ago, and one who moved away from here about 5 years ago. She may be coming here for a visit this coming week.
Does the instructor have to approve your sea glass theme, or is it a done deal?
(PS house sparrows)
We had four social outings this week, so I was way over my limit. My husband and I had a discussion about it and me saying NO! I have zoom for a weekly call that I enjoy from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Then the same day is my photography class from 7 to 9 p.m. which is an exhausting day for me. The professor accepted my proposal but wants to talk with me about techniques to get the best photos. I think that’s exactly what I need.
I agree once a week is a perfect social schedule unless it’s a very close friend!
What a great experience. It’s always good to reconnect with friends and people from the past. I prefer a quiet life at home, but I enjoy meeting up with friends when possible. We’re fortunate to have a dear friend from our college years living in Chicago, so we try to see her once every couple of months.
You’re correct about meeting friends from the past. It’s a great experience. How fortunate you are to have a friend close by from your college years. I keep trying to get my college friends to visit us.
We were definitely lucky, since we never imagined retiring in Illinois, especially so close to her.
That’s great! We were lucky to have friends move within one mile of us. We raised our kids together and we lived a few blocks apart in Palm Springs. We lost track of each other and were shocked to learn we lived close to each other in Arizona and moved here a few months apart!
Wow, that’s cool, having friends that close and raising families together like that. Truly a blessing.
It is!