Last night I did something really crazy: I invited a few of my favorite friends for dinner. My husband was overnighting it with the Scouts, tomatoes and basil were "on", and we girls had things piling up that needed to be talked about. Miracle of miracles, schedules cleared and at 7:00 we sat down at my dining room table, looked at each other increduously, and I, for one, started giggling inside.
As we passed bowls of salad and spaghetti Pomodoro, and ice-cold Izzes, we started catching up on a blossoming cupcake business, back-to-school supply deals, high school soccer try-outs, family vacations, and youth symphony. Dipping our garlic Pugliese led to dipping into deeper topics: family challenges, teenagers, where we each would like to be in a few years' time, and dream jobs. We soon side-stepped the deeper topics to share some of our most embarrassing moments EVER. This had me confessing aloud, hands pressed to my cheeks, while my friends roared.
After Natalie's homemade blueberry compote over vanilla ice cream, we watched the pre-recorded Brian Williams' Rock Center special on Mormonism. Having brilliant friends is really great, thought I, as we hashed through our likes and dislikes of the show.
Things I learned last night: women appreciate a pretty table and real napkins, girl talk is so necessary, Julie still makes the best salad around, women need to get together more often, and nothing is more cleansing than laughing really, really hard. Most importantly: with the unexpected twists and turns that life inevitably takes, having caring friends who believe in one another and champion one another is one of life's richest blessings.
Next time, your house???!
PEople used to live in close knit communities. Now we are so busy being sequestered in our private (if enormous) houses, and scheduling our day into literal little boxes (house, car, office, school, etc) that we don't see each other. We don't gather at the well to fetch water nor at the river to wash clothes. We don't hold quilting bees. The majority of Americans don't eat meals as a family.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think our souls know that something is missing. I don't think we were ever meant to live like this. Somehow all this technology that is supposed to bring us together is actually pulling us apart. It's something that we can't be passive about, because if we are, we'll miss something important.
Jenni, I love your perspective and I think you are absolutely right ... thanks for the great comment. So well-said.
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