Friends

Sunday evening we had dinner with some of our closest friends to celebrate a 30th birthday. This group is my "core group" of friends and I've known them for seven years now. They are the best of friends and I'm so happy to have found them.

When I was in high school, I had a lot of friends and was considered one of the "popular" ones. My group of girlfriends (who I'm so happy to be friends with still today) and I did everything together and made so many memories while growing up. Some of our memories involve doing things we really shouldn't have been doing (I still don't know how we didn't get caught doing them), but nevertheless, we survived and had a great time growing up together! 

After high school my girlfriends and I stayed in touch, but as time went on and our life situations changed, we didn't spend as much time together like before. We grew apart, changed, found new friends. I went through a period of time where I didn't have any friends. But I did have my Mom! She's always been there to be my friend and I had so much fun hanging out with her during that time and getting to know her as an adult.

I remember when I first met and started hanging out with this "core group" that I referred to above. I met them at the church I was going to at the time through a women's softball team I organized one summer. One Sunday after church they invited me to lunch and I surprised myself by saying that I'd go along. I never went out to eat after church. I just liked to go home and do my own thing. I still remember that lunch and think it's the best thing I ever did! I got to know these friends a little more and had a great time. They started inviting me to hang out with them and I had the absolute best time. It was so nice to be accepted and have a group of friends again! In fact, after hanging out one day I remember calling my Mom and saying, "Mom, I have friends...and they like me!" Oh it was the best feeling ever! Ever since then, this has been the group of friends that I hang out with the majority of the time.

As the years have passed, the life situations of this group have changed, too. In the past seven years, we have welcomed six babies (with one on the way), three spouses, and one boyfriend (who will hopefully become a spouse within the next year) into our group. The changes have made our hangout times fewer and sometimes far between, but I love the fact that we do still get together. It's funny to look back over the years and see how things have changed. Seven years ago I remember hanging out in my apartment one night until about 1am when everyone went home. Today 7:30-8pm has become the new 1am for those with kids, and those without 9pm is the new 1am...we're all too tired to stay up any later! I can't wait to see what the next seven years bring this group and the next seven after that.

My in-laws have had a great group of friends for the past 30+ years and have experienced several stages of life together during those years...baby and toddler stage, adolescence stage, teenage stage, college stage, marriages, and now grandbabies. I think that span of friendship is so neat and I am excited to share all of those things with my group of friends.

And on another note, just last night I texted my high school girlfriends about getting together sometime soon to catch up. I love that we still get together and are in each others lives. The saying is so true:  Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other is gold!