Yesterday I had lunch with four women who were once part of my daily life, but whom I'd not seen for more than forty years. My first proper, serious job was as a high school teacher in a small country town and these women were friends and work colleagues. After two years together we all left the town and began living the rest of our lives in different ways. In the first year away we met up several times, but after that we drifted apart.
Yesterday we met at noon and talked till after 7.00pm. I'm horrified at how much others had remembered, but I'd forgotten. Names seemed familiar, and some people were remembered, but so much had that awful feeling of being just beyond the edge of my memory. I think the early twenties are a time of your life when you're very self-absorbed, and other people are remembered only as they featured in your development. We had a few - mainly black and white - photos, but cameras were not then as common as they now are, and I sorely felt the need of more visual prompts.
What was wonderful was just how easy it was being back together, despite so much happening in all our lives since we'd last spent time as a group. Everyone was still so obviously themselves - rather scary, really.
I feel as if I've rediscovered a piece of my life. We've already made arrangements to meet again in a year's time.
3 comments:
This is a lovely post. Isn't it wonderful that you all made such a positive impression on each other that, forty years later, you still remember and want to get together again.
You're all very lucky I think.
I love the feeling of getting together with old friends, where you just slip easily into conversation as if you'd seen each other yesterday, and the time passes without you noticing.
But I have the same memory lapses too, those just beyond recall "memories". It's kind of weird.
Glad you are making it an annual thing!
how wonderful! So many years between! It's interesting that point about cameras - I wonder if the proliferation of photos will mean those of us who meet up in 40 years time will remember more?
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