Re-acquainted

Update below ...

A very cool thing happened on Sunday. I met a childhood friend after ~20 years of zero contact.

I don’t have a lot of friends from when I was growing up. There weren’t a lot of them in the first place! In grade school, I was just way too different from most of the other kids … and growing up on a farm was isolating in several ways. And high school was such an awkward time. I had a lot of friends in university, but back then I was religious, and so were my friends. Now I’m so not religious and they still are. Not much in common anymore, unfortunately, but they’re still really great people.

So, up until Sunday, my current “peeps” included about zero people who knew me before 1997. Fortunately, I’ve made some great friends since. But hanging out with Lori on Sunday was really special.

Lori was one of my best friends from about Grade 3? 4? to Grade 9. We spent hours playing Barbies and pretending we owned about 50 horses each (I remember keeping lists of their names and carrying them with me “just in case”. Lori’s favourite horse name, if I remember correctly, was Tumbleweed.)

We went through puberty together. She was the one in whom I confided when my mother told me that it was time for me to get a training bra. (I will never forget her instant sympathy and how she touched my arm, looked in my eyes, and said, “I’m so sorry!!!!” LOL)

We were going to write a book together. It was doomed because it was about a family whose mother was a famous actress and they lived in a mansion. Neither of us knew anything about that kind of lifestyle.

We spent hours swimming in the neighbours’ pool but were limited in how much time we could spend on the phone. (That was in the day when parents didn’t buy a separate phone line for their kids.)

We attended each other’s birthday parties (her mother used to wrap pennies in wax paper and put them between the layers of birthday cake; whoever found one was supposed to have good luck).

We both dreamed of world travel, learning foreign languages, and living in sophisticated worlds beyond our little hometown.

In Grade 9 we were sent to different high schools and eventually lost touch.

Meeting up with her on Sunday was surprisingly easy and natural. Neither of us was surprised to learn that the other had cats (Lori basically wondered how many I had rather than if I had any at all – see how well she knows me??? LOL), and we quickly got caught up on our life histories, disappointments, challenges, and accomplishments. We had met at the Ansel Adams/Alfred Eisenstaedt exhibit at the AGO, and had a fun moment in front of a photo of a cactus that, we agreed, was distinctly phallic (it was just like being back in Grade 7!). We talked about Miss Brath (someone I had not thought of in years!) and Lori reminded me of her sandwich analogy for writing a paragraph (“the intro and closing sentences are the bread …”).

In short, it was really great to see her again, and I hope it won’t be nearly as long again before we meet up once more!

Update: After reading this blog entry, Lori sent me this e-mail, which is just too fun not to share (my notes are in green):

Great seeing you last weekend. That was such a nice write up on your blog! I couldn't have summed it up better myself. I can't believe you remember that my mom put buttons in the cakes! And "Tumbleweed"???? - How on earth did you remember that? I had even forgotten that one!

Okay, here's more: playing "On the Ranch" (yes, we named our fantasy-games!) (Actually, I didn't forget about this one at all, but considered too embarrassing to include ... Thanks, Lori! ;-> ); G-force (enough said) (100% agreed! LOL); riding our bikes up and down the [road] in the summers (baskets, bells and banana seats!); hanging out with the cats-in-the-straw in your Dad's barn; Friday night sleepovers at yourhouse, watching the Dukes of Hazard (I like Luke. No, I love Bo!) or Miami Vice (yes, the two great loves of my life, Bo and Sonny! You had to remind me ... ugh. LOL) and drinking Pop Shoppe pop (what flavour was 'green'?) (That would be lime – and it was yummy. As a side note, I know someone who experimented a great deal with recipes for BBQ ribs, and the one she finally determined as the best included marinating the ribs in lime Pop Shoppe pop overnight before cooking them!); tormenting your brother with "Women's Lib" signs and jeers ... (I swear I was born a feminist … I have NO IDEA where it came from …) And everytime I hear that old song, "Because your kiss, your kiss, is what I miss...." I think of hanging out upstairs at your place and listening to your Barbie stereo, while making our Barbie dolls do very adult things! (Call me a liar or repressed, but I truly have no recollection of the “making our Barbie dolls do very adult things”, but sadly I do remember playing with Barbies. I wish I'd done something more valuable with my time ... LOL)

And don't even get me started on school - from Miss M. all the way up to Miss K! We'll have to get together soon and see what buried treasures we both can dig up!!!

Thanks again for blogging me!