Lately, I seem to have a lot of childhood songs and poems popping into my head. I'm not sure of the exact title, but the one running through my mind right now goes something like this:
"Make new friends,
But keep the old.
One is silver
And the other gold."
A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to spend the weekend with some "golden friends". Jeremy and I went to high school together. We have a long history together: I dated his brother; he dated my sister; working at summer camp together; attending the same church; participating in choir, band, drama club, etc. He even played the role of my father...twice...in 2 different musicals. It's amazing how years can pass, we can attend separate colleges, move to different states, start our careers and families, build new friendships, and yet, when we get together, it's as if nothing has changed.
Jeremy married an amazing girl named Julie and they have a little girl named Katie. Katie and Molly are only TWO DAYS different in age! We've gotten together a few different times...once when Julie and I were both pregnant and again when the girls were only a few months old. It's been fun to watch them grow together and to compare notes on all the crazy aspects of parenting a toddler.
It was while they were here visiting from South Carolina that we got our totally unexpected "snow storm" (if you can call less than 2 inches of snow a storm). The girls had fun playing in the snow...I mean, staring at the snow in confusion and wondering why their parents were forcing them to wear ridiculously puffy snowsuits and acting like crazy people while taking a million pictures ;-)
By the way, isn't Katie just a doll?
I was amazed by how quickly Molly attached herself to Julie. As you may have picked up from previous posts, Molly has taken the "stranger anxiety" stage to epic levels. It normally takes her a good long while before she warms up to new people. Not the case with Katie's mommy. It was like she knew that Julie was another mommy so she had to be alright. There were even a few occasions where I was holding Molly and she leaned over to reach out to Julie! She was so precious on the last night that they were here visiting. We were having a grand time decorating the tree, eating popcorn, and listening to Christmas music. Julie was sitting on the floor playing with Katie when Molly toddled over and sat right down on Julie's lap (on top of Katie!). It was like a little dogpile of friends. So cute!
So, remember that no matter how far you move from home, no matter how many career changes, life changes, or relationship changes you make, there will always be golden friends from your past that will remind you of where you've come from and of the experiences that have shaped you. Thanks for a great weekend, Jeremy, Julie and Katie! Can't wait to do it again sometime soon.
