The Overwhelmed Blogger

Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold

I’ve missed a couple of nights of blogging, maybe more, and I think it’s in part because this has been an overwhelming week nationally. When I did blog, it was mostly out of outrage, and I apologize for that—sort of. I am weary of people who won’t speak out for their beliefs because they don’t want to offend someone.

On a more pleasant note, this has been a week to treasure old friends. One night three friends and I went to dinner at a restaurant some distance away—we were chef-chasing, because one of us really liked this chef at another location. The restaurant experience was not good—the waiter spilled ice water on two of my friends, the waitress confessed that she didn’t like the chicken fried steak (well trained staff), they forgot the happy hour prices, etc. Food was okay, not great, but we’ll not make that trek again.

The evening was rescued by the fun of being together. I’ve known these ladies close to thirty years, at a guess. I first me one of them, and she introduced the second. Meantime I was already long friends with the third. Now they are all fast friends with me and with each other. It’s a joy when you bring people together. We laugh, we talk about serious matters, we enjoy, and we go home refreshed.

Next day I had lunch with a forty-year friend. As I wrote in the blog earlier, the lunch was marred at least for me by a strong political difference, but there is still the tie of shared experiences, a past of years that cannot be erased. When I brought my first child home from the adoption agency and didn’t know a thing about caring for babies, she left her child with her mom and came to help me. Our children grew up together. We saw each other through many personal ups and downs. Today’s polarizing politics can’t undo those ties, thank goodness.

Ethnic dining was on my agenda this week too. Betty, my weekly dining companion of some twenty-five years, and I went to Tokyo Café, always a favorite. I discovered something new to me on the menu—a Bao Bun. Essentially smoked brisket wrapped in dough, baked, and served with a wonderful teriyaki sauce. The next day neighbor Mary (a relatively new friend of say five or six years but still valued) and I went to King Tut, and I enjoyed sambosa with cucumber sauce and tabbouleh. Hadn’t been there in a long time.

Tonight, a reunion with old friends, both, like me, the ex-wives of osteopathic physicians. I see one of them from time to time, after a space of many years, but hadn’t seen the other in years. Talk about old friends! I’ve known these ladies since probably the mid-to-late seventies. We had great fun talking about old times and catching up on the present and children and grandchildren. Yeah, we talked about those ex-husbands a bit too, but there was lots of laughter and little regret.

I am fortunate to have had so many friends last a lifetime, and I count my blessings every day.