I love Facebook.
Why?
Because it has enabled me to get back in touch with friends from the old days.
Sure, sure. I know I’m not that old…except to Chicky, who’s only 18 and thinks anyone over the age of 25 is old. But what does she know?
I was on Facebook on Saturday morning when I noticed that a high school classmate was on vacation here. I live near the beach, and everyone comes when they have time off from work.
So, I commented, telling her that she should look me up.
Well, another high school friend saw my comment and started a chat session.
Come to find out, she’d been here for two weeks and was leaving the next day. She invited me to stop by.
Now folks. I like to think of myself as sociable, but I’m really not.
I’m a hermit.
I admit that.
I don’t know why, but I get really nervous when I venture out to visit with people.
I lack self-confidence, I think.
Anyhoo, I surprised myself by accepting eagerly, jumping up to get showered and dressed.
I had not seen this friend in over 20 years.
Now, I’ve gotta tell you. High school was not kind to me. No, not that the friend I was visiting wasn’t kind. She was.
However, the high school experience, for the most part, was difficult.
I was ugly.
I lacked confidence (some things do not change).
I only made the cheer leading squad as an alternate…two years in a row…while I watched my sister make it year after year.
I played on the basketball team…only leaving the bench when we were too far behind to catch up or too far ahead to lose the game.
Gee, I wonder why I lacked confidence.
Anyhoo, I suspect that the affect of those experiences lingered…hence my itsy bit of trepidation.
However, every bit of it left as soon as “J” answered the door, her children hovering behind her.
Time melted away as we caught up with each other.
She told me how she’d wound up in Birmingham from our small little corner of LA (Lower Alabama), and I explained my journey through Alabama and Florida.
I watched as her young son played with monster trucks and her daughter played on the laptop.
We fixed sandwiches for lunch, and the topic of couponing came up. She was very interested, and I quickly explained the basics, even helping her set up Google Reader and subscribing her to some of my favorite couponing blogs.
In the wee span of three hours that I was at her beach house, we worked our way from discussing high school memories to parenting issues.
I left with my spirits lifted and bewildered as to why I had worried so much beforehand.
Don’t we all do this, though? We all doubt ourselves…
Will she like me? Will she think I’ve gained weight? Will she notice the white hairs sticking out? Will I say anything dumb?
Oy!
What I got, instead, was a reminder that much had changed.
We had matured into empathetic adults…mothers…with shared hopes for our children and concerns about work and relationships.
I couldn’t help but think about Chicky – newly graduated from high school.
I pray that she will set herself free from the worries that bound her during her school days and move on, toward newer, deeper friendships and appreciate the old days for what they were…a time of immaturity and a time best left where it exists…the past.
Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: friendships, high school | Leave a comment »
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