Make new friends
But keep the old
One is silver,
the other is gold.
Several
years ago hub and I went to a wedding. We did not know the other couples at our
table. Looking around, he leaned over and muttered, “Why are we sitting with all
these old farts?”
I
stared at him and whispered back, “Because they are us.”
“Oh…No,
really?” was his response, shaking his head.
How
did that happen?
Other
people age. We celebrate annual rites of passage, but believe – falsely, of
course – that we do not age the same as those around us. We may succumb to
aches and pains, but do not look or feel old.
But
of course we do. Look old. We look like every other aging boomer.
We
are as gray, wrinkled, bald, round and flabby as those around us. Exercising
helps, but unless devoting life to attaining a Jack or Jacqueline LaLanne
physique or paying piles of cash to erase evidence of our true age, the years mercilessly
materialize on the body.
Maybe
that is OK. We earned our facial lines and body transformations, proudly
announcing to the world we are still around, very much active, alive and
kicking.
Inside
we are still kids romping through the ‘60s dancing to the music.
We
may not be able to dance as wildly or as long or flexibly as we did decades
ago, but we are as enthusiastic as ever. There are times the body does not
cooperate. Disappointing, but not tragic. We plod on, celebrating what we can
accomplish.
Including
hanging out with old friends.
and the
GOLD…
It is one of the blessings of old friends
that you can afford to be stupid with them.
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Getting
together with friends scattered around the country is special. The group
sharing dinner Friday night is considered old by some. Age is relative, and
although not our relatives, our kids believe our friends, as well as Mom and
Dad, are fast approaching ‘old’. I think that is because the kids have known us
for decades. They grew up and matured while we aged and ripened.
Our
friendships do not reach as far back as the 1960s, but come close. We have
known each other since our children – in their 30s now – scampered around in
diapers.
This
particular summer evening four couples gathered at a restaurant at the shore enjoying
summer, friendships, a temporary respite from grandkids, and one member’s 66th
birthday.
It
is remarkable all four couples are original twosomes, married and together
since the 1970s. No divorces, deaths or remarriages. That statistic alone makes
us somewhat exceptional.
Because
of busy calendars and homes geographically dispersed, time between get-togethers
can be months or years. But it is a gift that when together we pick up where we
left off, catching up on family, jobs, retirement (when? where? what to do?),
and other trivia of everyday lives.
Perhaps
the greatest gift is we can be ourselves in the silliest and stupidest ways.
We reminisce about being young parents. We recall happy occasions shared,
eating, drinking, dancing and simply having fun. We rejoice in weddings and
births. And we remember the sadder events experienced over the years.
During
dinner waiters delivered a birthday cake to a woman at the table next to us.
The entire dining room joined in an enthusiastic rendition of “Happy Birthday,”
amazed that the woman celebrating her 94th birthday was so lively,
young looking (relatively speaking, of course), and totally ‘with it’.
Hub
and I are planning on returning to the restaurant on the bay in three decades
to celebrate our friend’s 96th birthday.
Special note to my Friday
night buddies: Mark your calendars - July 11, 2044. It’s a Monday. Since we
will all be retired by then, the weekday won’t matter.
