The house is quiet now. After a fun sushi lunch, Kurt and I drove the last of our PSHS guest to the airport to catch his plane back to Minnesota. I've finished picking up the house, stripped the beds, started laundering the linens and towels, vacuumed the floors and scrubbed the kitchen sink. My hands feel like sandpaper. It's unsettling. I rub hand creme on them to try and alleviate the dryness to no avail. It is getting dark and from where I sit, I can see planes flying across the sky---a fringe benefit of having a house overlooking the airport flight paths. It's the stacking hour and I can see a row of bright lights quietly and deliberately following an invisible path towards a common destination. For a brief moment, I am mesmerized by the thought that there are literally thousands of humans being transported across the sky, each living meaningful lives, each with loved ones and all contained and ensconced in aircrafts magically suspended in air hundreds of feet above the earth piloted by another human being. I was glad that by this time, all my friends have arrived safely to their various destinations. It is a strange and wondrous world we live in--and an awesome time to be alive. Since Thursday of last week, FIFTEEN chums from Philippine Science High School have met and laughed together. Some brought their spouses and significant partners. Two brought their daughters. Some stayed for only a few hours. But each one leaving hopefully, with their lives forever changed for the better. It has been a wonderful time. Last Saturday evening, me and four of my girl-chums spent the night together after the dinner party. As we sat together in our pajamas, make-up washed off and eyes barely open, we fought sleep and fatigue just to stretch our time together....some of us not wanting to retire first for fear that we might miss something. Our girl talk ended at 4 am. I felt so much closer to my friends after hearing their life stories, their perceptions, their fears and their victories. Clearly we are now seasoned and savvy women. Experience does that. And time. My life clearly is better because of my association with them. It is so amazing to me that I don't remember having any kind of meaningful interaction with most of the 'boys' when we were in high school. In some instances, I don't even remember saying even a squeak to them. But seeing them again, interacting with them and now, having some of them in my home ---well, has been lovely! I look at them and I see accomplished, kind and generous people who I consider to be great friends and in whose presence I derive great pleasure. The absence of teenage angst has been a great boon. Maturity does have its benefits.
The decade of our 50s promises to be one of celebration---if we let it. To that end, my friends are planning more opportunities to renew and invest in friendships. We will be in San Francisco the weekend of January 25. We hope to experience dining at the world famous French Laundry---that is, if we can secure reservations since there is a three month wait-list. In late February or early March, we plan to be in Oahu, Hawaii. November, next year, our friend Rolly will have another medical convention in New Orleans. We hope to congregate there was well. Much can happen during our 50th decade and we aim to create more memories together.
The investments we make with friends who knew us before we became who we are now can yield many happy returns. I am banking on it.
