lunch

I had an all-too-rare treat today -- lunch with three old friends.

Friends who weren't TOO old -- not so old that I hadn't seen or talked to them in years, and had no earthly idea what they were up to. Whom I have zero in common with any more, but for the sake of our friendship, we attempted once more to meet up, since space and time were for some random reason in favor of it. (Michele, Jennifer, and any other old friends I've seen in the past year or two, this is not you guys. More of a hypothetical, really.)

But friends that weren't too new, either -- who don't really know much more about me than strictly my current situation in life. Those newer friendships are precious, too (insert old Girl Scout song here about silver and gold), but not quite what happened today.

It's scary how close in proximity I can work, or in some cases, live, to people who are very dear to me - and generally, everyone has e-mail, anyway -- and yet, friendships just go on hiatus sometimes. It's inevitable, I suppose. I remember talking to friends once about how many friendships it's reasonably possible to sustain and keep healthy at any given time. I don't remember what the number was. A dozen? Ten to twenty? It was fewer than I cared to hear, yet I knew it was probably pretty accurate.

I've been going through a weird inner tug of war lately. Really, since I got pregnant with Lizzy. But it feels like it's taken a different cast in recent months. I want to get together with friends and let those friendships grow, but it's so hard. So hard. The commute sucks up so much of the day. And Lizzy's at an age where she's so much fun, and relatively little, um, maintenance, that I no longer, uh, well, fantasize about, er, totally ditching my family for the day or evening. It's much more of a trade-off these days than a sought-after pleasure. And I'll be darned if I want to get into the car on the weekends, even for the sake of seeing a good old friend. Like I said, it's a tug of war.

I've just kinda felt like giving up recently. I'm not sure why. And that won't last. Like most else, it's an ebb and a flow. I guess I'm in an ebb, for whatever reason.

Anyway, back to my old (but not TOO old) friends. What fun to have lunch with Erin/Dotty, Amy B., and Laura K. today. Two of whom I work 15 minutes or less from (their offices). Ridiculous.

It's hard to feed all these parts of our lives. And so, it was with great pleasure that we were able to feed our bodies while we fed our need for social girliness with old buddies, as well.

Thanks, ladies. Love to you, and to those old friends whom I very rarely get to see, but I think about often. Who reminded me how powerful and vital and healthy it is to have girlfriends. For too many years (before I moved to D.C. and met you), I had forgotten that.