The Best of Friends

I had a wonderful time last night. A high school friend is getting married this afternoon (along with the sister of another high school friend) and that has brought a great many people to town. Last night, we all went out for dinner at a lovely restaurant with delicious food and refreshing cocktails. We sat on the patio for hours talking and laughing. We remembered old crushes (and poor boyfriend decisions). We talked about siblings and parents, children and marriage.

Sometimes I am amazed at how easy it is for us to pick up right where we left off. Some of these people I see often. Some I see once a year for maybe a couple of hours. But the conversations are always easy. It's been 18 years since we graduated and we still have so much to talk about.

Last night there was some reflection on that, about the people we were and the people we are and why we all still get along. Someone said that even back in high school we all had a pretty good sense of who we were and we were all very comfortable being ourselves. I very much think that's true. I know that personally, the core of me hasn't really changed that much. I'm still very much the same person I always was. There are definitely aspects to my personality that have grown and developed and I'm much more comfortable saying what I mean to say and being open...though I still won't always volunteer information unless asked. I still work better in smaller groups than larger ones.

My WIP (work-in-progress) is about (in part) that transition between high school and college and how that major transition affects these characters. I remember, from my own experience, sitting outside Coffee People on NW 23rd with two boys. One I knew well, and one I knew not quite so well. I remember it was near the end of the summer and I was beginning to wonder if this was it, if this was the end of these friendships. I wondered if time and distance would close the book on these relationships. And it made me sad even though I knew I was going off to college where more friends were sure to be made.

All these years later, I'm still in touch with both these boys. One, because we have always been friends, and one because of the wonders of Facebook.