last night i went to dinner with one of my besties from high school.
i haven’t seen her in 5 years.
Naomi was one of my first friends in high school. on the first day of school we realized we had the exact same schedule, except that she was taking 10th grade math in 9th grade…but how freakin’ smart she is really is neither here nor there. we were instant friends and it lasted all through high school. we spent free periods in the library (which, i promise, was cool back then) or at 7-11 getting slurpees. we spent our lunch hour in the cafeteria ogling over the boys we liked and eating instant ramen soups. we discovered starbucks together. we had inside jokes that no one got. we made each other mix tapes. we did everything – student council, yearbook, newspaper – together.
and then we graduated.
and our lives took different paths. i moved to Canada. She went to Penn. I got married (she was a bridesmaid, of course) and had three children. She went to med school and is now finishing her residency in Chicago.
we are terrible at keeping in touch. she’s bad with email. and when i visit, i have no time for friends (it’s always family, family, family). but, she is in Toronto for a few days, visiting.
seeing her last night was a gift.
and even though we don’t talk much or see each other much, we fell back into this groove that i remember all too well. at first we made the small talk…what are you up to…what are you siblings up to…etc. but then we were back. high school friends. comfortable. the last 5 years flew away and it didn’t matter that i don’t see her or talk to her on a daily basis. There were no awkward moments. No…"what am i going to say next…" No…we have nothing in common anymore.
it was great. but it makes me realize how much i miss her. and how much i’ve missed out on. and how much i wish i could see her more than every 5 years. i wish life didn’t get in the way of these things. old friends are too important.
That is too funny Ali not too long ago I wrote about the same thing, getting in touch with a friend I hadn’t talked to in many many years and it wasn’t awkward nor were we searching for things to talk about. Some friends you might not speak to everyday but when you do it feels like it was only yesterday not 5 years (or in my case 10). It’s always a good feeling.
shut up…in 9th grade it was cool! 🙂
Hanging out in the library was most definitely NOT cool.
7-11? Maybe.
My best friend is like that. When I met her I was going through a hard time (I’d kind of “broken up” with my best friend and my boyfriend) and she had just come to a new school. We were both so lonely – and our friendship was such a gift to both of us.
She now lives in Windsor – and we never see each other (totally opposite schedules) but when we do it’s like old times and I love it.
So, now you’ve made me realize I should sit down and send her a proper e-mail. Life is too short 🙂
I love that. When you can sit down with someone you haven’t seen in a while but they know you so well…like the core, the truth about who you really are and pick up where you left off. We’re lucky to have that.
The best friends really are the ones you can be comfortable with even after being out of touch. And of course, the ones it’s crummiest to be out of touch with. Too weird, isn’t it?
So great that it was like old times with you two! Sucks that she’s not here more often, or that you don’t get to go there to see her more. But, I guess you take what you can get. Looks like you’re making the best of it. ENJOY! 🙂 I have a friend like that, too. We were besties in high school. We don’t see each other enough because of our schedules, but when we do, it’s like old times. Those are great friendships, fo sho….