The Fortieth

I guess there are several of us who have a little anxiety about going back and seeing folks you have not seen in 40 years, or 10 or 20 or 30; folks you were young with, folks you were dumb with; folks  you thought were cute or beautiful or handsome or drop dead gorgeous.  That's what I did this weekend.  I went back to my home town to check all that out.
I don't spend any time there anymore since my parents have passed away.  Didn't see many folks when I did go.  I have a very few friends from high school that I am still friends with or stay in touch with.
A friend of mine that I was not real close with in high school invited me to stay with her, so I did.  She was a great hostess.  We dressed and went to the Friday night gig which was at the "famous" Papa Rollos Pizza in Waco.  It was somewhat of a hang out in high school.  Food was great and saw many faces it had truly been about 10 years since I had seen.  Many looked similar but many I would not have recognized without their name tag.
Saturday night was even more fun with even more people.  The food was good and the music was great.  Visited again with some folks that were close to me then who just sort of drift apart.  When we all move away, go to college, move out of state, marry, get jobs, have kids, etc., it just changes everything.  There was much catching up to do.  One of my friends came in from Hawaii and another from Pennsylvania, one from New York.  There was lots of visiting outside, a great group photo, "girl dancing" on the inside and a video of those in our class who have passed on.  Overall, it was a great night that didn't end until about 1:45am.  My friend and I went home, showered and sat up and visited until then.
On Saturday I also have lunch with two great friends I have almost lost touch with.  That was the high light of my trip.  I am hopeful that we will be rekindling our friendships and not near the amount of time will pass again before we will get together to catch up so we can start to make new memories together.  I am so thankful for the time and opportunity to be with them on Saturday.  It was like a breath of fresh air, a deep breath.  A whole lifetime of memories came back, good memories, fun times and a bit of craziness.  We all left smiling and hugging and vowing to stay in better touch.
Valuable friendships are few and far between.  They are worth saving.  They are worth rekindling.  They are worth everything.
Thank you God for good friends, good times, and good memories.  They make our lives worthwhile.

"Greater love hath no one than this; to lay down one's life for one's friends" John 15:12-14

"A friend loveth at all times". Proverbs 17:17

Encourage One Another