Oct 5- Old friends

I've just recently re-connected with two couples that were my very dear friends from our college years and into our early 20's. You know how it goes...one day you're thick as thieves and the next thing you know, everyone has moved to another city, had babies and started new lives. The one thing that kept us so close in our youth was our lack of responsibility and the wasteful use of money on the weekends. Once those things came to a screeching halt, it was painful to try and get together only to be reminded of what it used to be like before kids and the lack of disposable income. So, we went our separate ways but did our best to stay in touch through occassional phone calls and birthday cards.

Last weekend one of those couples' daughter got married. I wasn't able to get away from work to attend the wedding, but asked to see the photos. Today, they were emailed to me and I was a little nervous to see them. I knew they would be beautiful and elegant but also knew that it would be emotionally difficult to look at the images. Where did all those years go and how did one of us have a daughter old enough to get married? Why do the parents, my peers, look so much older but their daughter look so youthful... as we once did?

I look in the mirror and want to see the same face as when we were in our 20's and sometimes I think I do. But there's nothing like a friends' daughter getting married to slap you in the face of reality....we aren't 20 anymore and it shows! So, even though it did make me tear up to look at the pictures, it was a milestone, because this is a new phase in our collective post college years' lives that I can face without getting sad. The memories of our past are fun to think about but hopefully now that we've re-connected and our kids are gaining their independence, we can make new memories in this next phase of our lives.

Mike, Gail, Dan and Susan...you all looked fantastic!