In the Company of Friends~ Kate writes

The conversation, once we are all together, may start with something about going to the bathroom...OK. It will start with that.

In the middle there will probably be a discussion about holding a marriage together and the struggles with a child.

Then there will be a thousand little asides between groups of 2s and 3s in different sitting rooms, on walks, tucked into beds, in a nook.

Someone will laugh loudly into a silent, sleepy moment in the afternoon, waking us all into activity again.

There will be someone ready to sunscreen your back or clear your plate.

If you forgot face cream, tampons, shampoo, warm socks, money, suglasses- you are covered.

When you wake, wait 15 mins and you will be joined by a friend and your second cup of coffee.

If you can't decided what to order, someone will order the 2nd thing and you will share.

There is always a designated driver.

Someone is bound to have an even more embarrassing story than yours. If not, you get bragging rights?

If you need to unload, you will be listened to and buoyed. The other faces probably nodding or tear streaked.

Yeah- what is with all the crying? From laughing, frustration, fears, and understanding...it will happen, those tears.

You will hear the words, "me, too" and breathe easier.

You will hear the words, "I will" and breathe easier.

It will always end with hugs and sighs of happiness, exhaustion, and realization that it is time to go back to the real world. 

What was easy to clean while chatting becomes laborious at home. 

A cheese stick becomes a meal instead of the prize of a lengthier breakfast preparation. 

A book unopened and put away at home was the book open, but always face down, when with friends. 

This bonding time is a recharge of the spirit and heart, especially now that our time together, once plentiful, is spotty and incomplete with so many working, so many with children in full day school, so many obligations that come with age and a job.

Not everyone can always make it, and we miss the friends not there. 
But they are toasted. 
They are loved. 

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” C S Lewis

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.” Alfred Tennyson 

“Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find.” William Shakespeare