A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. -- Anonymous
How excited I was on the drive over to Mill Valley yesterday, anticipating a delightful afternoon. I was to have lunch with my longtime friend, Erin, who had driven up from Silicon Valley for the day.
Erin and I met in the 1970s, when we were members of Peninsula Women in Advertising (which disbanded several years ago) and Peninsula Marketing Association. We are both writers and editors, and occasionally worked on marketing projects together for computer companies in the Valley. Once in a while we'd get together socially for dinner or to hear jazz; and we have kept up our friendship despite my moves to Santa Cruz, then to Athens,Georgia, back to Silicon Valley, and then over to Marin.
I've always been impressed by Erin's solid intelligence, humor, and buoyant spirit. A while ago, after her husband died, our friendship of many decades reached an even deeper level. Yes, I too have experienced the tremendous upheaval of widowhood and the rebirth that follows, so I can offer her the perspective of one who has "been there." Being able to honestly share our emotions about the shock of being thrust into widowhood has definitely brought us closer.
When I saw Erin yesterday, I was also struck by how relaxing and at the same time reinvigorating it is to be with a friend I've known for so long, by our true meeting of minds (and our similar opinions, about everything from politics to British movies), by our real appreciation of each other -- even our peculiarities, and by what I really value, patches of "companionable silence."
A friendship that has come through several decades and still flourishes is truly a thing of beauty! Who is your Erin and do you have any stories to share?
Linda Jay Geldens, www.LindaJayGeldens.com
Click here for more of Linda's posts.
Comments