Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Coffee shop talk

Yesterday I was in full survival mode. You know those type of days...children need more discipline than usual, baby is cranky, the beast (pms) is here, etc. I was in a bit of a funk, except that I could keep reminding myself what was in store for me at the end of the day. Last night was my monthly night out with my girlfriends- something I treasure.

We met at the usual coffee shop. I asked everyone to bring their wedding albums. On any given get-together there is between 2-10 of us. Last night there were 4. It was a wonderful, intimate group. We are supposed to meet and talk "shop" about homeschooling, but we seem to be more interested in building friendships, which is nice. My friend Liz is even coming along for the fun, even though she doesn't homeschool. I love that! Not only did I get to see what all of my friends looked like 10-12 years ago on their wedding day, but we shared much more. Engagement and wedding stories led to love stories. We giggled and laughed as we talked about how we met the loves of our lives. We oooed and aahhhed over the beauty of each bride. We laughed at the way our brothers and sisters looked. We were sad to see grandparents that were so happy and healthy then, and have now passed on. We listened as each one of us told of God's providence in bringing each family together and blessing us all with children. It was so much fun!

Before you know it, the coffee shop man was putting the chairs on the tables. And then he was locking the doors. And when we still didn't take the hint, he politely kicked us out...and so we stood in the parking lot shaking from the cool wind, still gabbing about "our stories". So just for fun, invite your best friend(s) or a new friend over for some coffee (maybe with some pumpkin pie or coffee cake) and share wedding pictures. You won't believe how much more you will know about one another when the night is over!
*Pictured above: Some of the girls back in September

3 comments:

RHB said...

What fun! Wish I could have been there. :)

Paula said...

sounds nice

Anonymous said...

I have a few friends back home that I try to see when I can, which is always at Christmas, and usually several times in between Christmases. We usually have dinner and sit for hours - til we feel guilty - then walk to the coffee shop - til it closes - then sit huddled in our cars til the wee hours. :) Sometimes we hit Barnes and Noble for coffee talk, and stay til it closes and we have to move to a car. And once or twice we, too, have stood in the frigid cold, shivering, for WAY TOO LONG. Downtown, at night, which is stupid, but fun. And once we ended up at Waffle House because it was winter and it was the only place open at midnight, but it wasn't much warmer than the outdoors.

Friendship keeps you warm enough, I suppose. :)

Sounds like you had a wonderful time, a dose of "good medicine." When I moved here 7 1/2 years ago, I didn't realize how much I would miss my group. That first Christmas, shopping was hard. I would see little groups of women sipping coffee and laughing and I felt a deep ache inside. I wanted to say to them, "I have friends, too! They just aren't here..."

But that time of my life has made me more thankful for new friends and old. Enjoy your golden days.