Every few years, one of my childhood friends makes a trip to Washington DC for her job. Usually, I take the train down and we catch up over dinner. This year, she came in a day early and we had the chance to spend the day together.
It was really great to reconnect. We lucked out because it was sunny and unusually warm for early February. Last year at this time we were still recovering from back to back blizzards. We had lunch at the Good Stuff Eatery, owned by Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn.
Next we headed to the National Botanical Gardens, just down the mall from the Capital. Then it was on to find the Impressionist Paintings at the National Gallery of Art. It’s been some time since I was last there, and it seemed as though there were many, many new paintings. If you love art and haven’t been here lately, it’s worth the trip.
One of the joys in life is getting together with old friends. There’s a safeness to it. Even though our lives are very different, they are also very similar. Hitting middle age in a time of economic downturn isn’t what we expected. Knowing people who have lost jobs, houses, and marriages wasn’t on the radar the last time my friend and I got together a few years ago.
Now, such things are sadly part of a new normal. I can’t wait for them to get back to being abnormal. It can’t come soon enough.
In the end, its fun to see where people are, to share current things going on in our lives and in the lives of those who are part of our life today. My friend and I didn’t really talk much about the past, which I think is a good thing. Instead, we talked about the present, and also our hopes for the future. At the end of the day, it was sad to leave. It was a great day and a lot of fun:)
Because our lives are so busy, the friends from our past sometimes get left behind. They are not really part of our present and more than likely not included in our future. That’s too bad.
Make some time in the next couple of weeks and make an attempt to reconnect with an old friend. Find out what’s happening with them, and share what’s going on with you. If they don’t have time, move on to someone else.
We need good friends today more than ever. Don’t be afraid to make the effort.
