I don't know if it's the holiday season, the slight decrease in my stress level, or just me, but lately I have been feeling uber blessed. Blessed to be a girl who can count on many people in her life to be there- to share a glass of wine, a laugh, a few tears, et cetera. Not everyone can be so lucky. Nostalgia has been the theme of the week. It started on Friday night while spending time with a certain family that have welcomed me in over the years. As I sat on the couch with the woman who does and has it all, I marveled at the many small special moments she shares with her husband and three beautiful, brilliant little girls that I have come to love so dearly. They have such an undeniable hunger for life and contagious holiday spirit. The eldest girl and I recently practiced reciting an old favorite poem of mine from Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. I am a sucker for sappy children's books and poetry.
I continued my Friday evening by meeting DJ Slumpbuster and DWD at the Brick to celebrate 30 years of business. They thanked their loyal customers with 1980's nachos prices. DWD was in his glory. These boys (and all my boys) make me feel lucky too. Genuine friendships with members of the opposite sex are hard to come by and should to be treasured. I'm going on four or five years with the dumps in my life but it feels like eternity. I don't know what I would do without them.
Speaking of nostalgia and male friends, I am currently teaching in the elementary school that I attended as a fifth grader. It is pretty wild, especially given the fact that my fifth grade teacher is still working there. For whatever reason, today she and I happened to be the only two in the teacher's room at lunch and we took a walk down memory lane. She raved about what a wonderful student I was and what a great bunch of kids I had in my class. She even went on to mention that back in 95 she was convinced I would grow up to be a writer (crossing my fingers that this might still happen). We then got to chatting about the brainy AA, also a student in that fabulous fifth grade class. How lucky am I to share a special bond with a guy I have known since the pre-pubescent days of my youth? I feel closer to him now that ever. His sincere, frequent compliments never cease to make me smile. I am eager to spend time with him on Christmas Eve at Tray Day's, quite possibly one of my favorite nights of the year.
Now on to my women. The fantastically flawed, strong, independent, inspirational women that I am lucky to know and love, near and far. While I would love to write a personal blurb about them, I just haven't the time or space here to do the whole lot justice. You know who you are, and I thank you for being in my life.
Perhaps the most blogspiration for this post came to me Saturday night while celebrating Shell Belle's 26th year of living on this Earth. It also marked the seventh time we have celebrated her birthday... the first time occurred in the room we shared together in our sorority house, complete with boys, bitches and plenty of underage boozing. Novel Girl, Tuna and Starry Eyes all came to the ocean state to make this spectacular reunion a success. What amazes me is that no matter how much time goes by without speaking, we all seem to get right back into the groove when we we're together, as if no time has passed since the days of all living under one roof. The night consisted of plenty of alcohol, inappropriate table talk, reminiscing, dougieing and self-reflection. The next morning consisted of plenty of laughs, raspy voices, homefries and goodbyes. But it is only goodbye for now, because as we have grown older, our friendships have grown stronger and we have made a more conscious effort to stay in touch and get together more frequently. I have to say... I don't hate it.
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