Today was a good day for a Bridal Shower; not perfect, mind you, just enjoyable, with a hint of Fall lingering in the air. Cloudy skies gave way to sprinklings of rain while small gusts of wind kept peeking into the huge tent that rested on the banks of the Hudson River. Inside, guests shivered and kept talking about “how nice this would have been if it was sunny out” while they sipped their Mimosa’s. Off in a corner was a table piled high with treasure, gifts of all sizes wrapped in an assortment of colors, ribbons and silk flowers, one prettier than the other. You could almost hear little voices from within each box yelling “Open Me First!”
Sitting at a table close to me was my best friend, Helene`, from a long time ago. We’ve managed to see each other, now and then, at events both happy and sad; I often think back to the times I made believe that I was part of her family while we were growing up, spending as much time as possible at her home. Years ago, we conjured up some distant relations from my side and hers that made us family and always called each other “Cuz”.
This Sunday gathering, of family and friends, was in honor of her nephew’s future wife and it presented one more opportunity to talk about how Helene` and I first met. Back in the 1940’s, her father dated my mother until he went off to war, ended up being stationed in France and met a lovely woman who would later become his wife. Meanwhile…stateside, my mother, a singer with the U.S.O, met a sailor who was on Navy leave before shipping out to the South Pacific; that man would eventually be my father.
Are you following all this? Good.
The men returned from their military and naval service, married, had kids and stayed friendly, even visiting once or twice after the war ended. Helene` and I met up again in Junior High School, not having seen each other since we were 4 years old. During those few years we shared teen-age heartbreak over boyfriends and the fun of weekly roller-skating at a nearby Boy’s Club. Sadly, like too many friends, we drifted apart before high school ended; she went away to Grace Downs Airline School and I went to work for New York Telephone….and envied her. We connected again in time for me to be the Maid of Honor at her wedding and then she was once again..gone. Our lives went on to take many different turns but when we did manage to see each other, she always seemed so happy and content….and I envied her still.
Recently, I sent her the link to my blog and today, we sat and talked like little had changed between us….but something had. We both realized that, as friends, we shared some, but not all secrets. Each of us had things going on in our lives that we kept hidden inside. Did that somehow make us less than best friends? If either of us had known some deep dark secret about the other would we have even remained friends?
I’d like to believe we would have.
I will see her, in just 4 more weeks, at her nephew’s wedding; we’ll sit and talk some more and, when that day’s joyful festivities end, go our separate ways once again. But, like today, I’ll tell her that I love her when we say good-bye. She was a positive part of my life; I wouldn’t have gotten through a lot of the pain without her, although she never knew anything about it.
Maybe that’s what true friendship is really all about.
Tell us about the moment you met your high school best friend. This Writing Prompt from Mama Kat’s took me back to a piece I wrote back in 2010. I’ve had friendships over the years but this one will always remain categorized under “best friends”. A category of just one.
