Quirks and All

I met two of them when

we moved to Minnesota

in February of 2000.

We were all moms in the

same kindergarten class and

they kindly reached out 

to me.

The beginning of precious

friendships.

{Now the little ones who
brought us together are

seniors in high school.}

Like a rolling snowball,

this group pulled in more

friends over the years,

and eventually, we met

regularly to do yoga

together.

And to laugh.

And to share common

experiences over coffee

or lunch.

And to just

be

ourselves.

One of the original

yoga girls has a family

home in Palm Desert,

California {lucky duck}

and invited the group 

to stay last week for a
few days.

Luckier us.

Besides birthday trips 

I've made with my mom 

and two I've made with 

another friend, I've never 

had a girl's weekend away.

It was wonderful.

The information super-

highway has nothing 

on seven friends together 

for four days.

We shared tips on nutrition

and skin care, hopes and

dreams for the second acts

of our lives and parenting

strategies {both for our

own kids and our parents}.

And we laughed.

Oh, how we laughed.

We cried a little, too.

Comes with the territory.

We made a pact that we

won't get plastic surgery.....

But also promised that if

one of us does, we'll love

her, anyway : )

Spending this much time

together, we became 

familiar with each other's 

little idiosyncrasies.

Like the friend who gets

anxious about overhead

luggage space, worries about

bad chemicals in food and

body products, and is prone 

to showing off her 

daughter's artwork.

{Thanks for indulging

me, ladies!}

But mostly we learned that

there is nothing more 

comforting

on this journey of life 

than the embrace and 

support of

dear

dear

friends,

who care for you, 

quirks and all.

It's a special kind of love.

I hope you have it in 
your life, too.

"Yes 'em, old friends is
always best, 'lest you can
catch a new one that's 
fit to make an old one
out of."

~ Sarah Orne Jewett

xo

Suzanne

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