Old Friends, New Friends

We played as children,
Now we watch our children play,
They whisper their secrets,
As we did so long ago.

We sing the old songs
Of our youth, our parents' youth,
While our kids sing old songs
Made new by their sweet voices.

Watching them feels strange
And yet right, at the same time.
I feel old. I feel young.
Twenty years passed in a wink.

Our lives, intertwined,
Our children create a stitch,
A new knot of friendship
Again binds us together.

***

I don't know of any other blogging-poet-mommybloggers - I think I'm going to stick with it for a while, at least until I get bored. We spent Thursday in Grammaland at Emily's concert Thursday night. I've known Emily so long that I don't remember not knowing her. And Cate from Alaska. Jen. Sunny. Erin. Sunny's mom. Cate's mom. It was a reunion of the best kind. Erin and Sunny brought their boyfriends. Cate, Jen, and I brought our kids. It was so much fun, so beautiful to see how we've changed and how we, at the core, have stayed the same. The kids and I spent the night with Mimi and had pancakes with Gramma before we headed to Cate's mom's for lunch and playing and singing. It made me feel like me again.

Then after the kids (FINALLY) went to bed last night, my new friend Casey and I went out for a drink. Gosh, Casey and I have been friends for a year now! She still has that "new friend" smell, though! It was the fourth anniversary of the death of her 8-1/2 week old son Richard. I told her I wished I'd known her then, so I could've done more to support her than take her out for a drink long after the fact. Sitting there with Casey, it struck me that she would probably love my childhood friends. I can see so many similarities between my friends from middle school, high school, college, and adulthood. I guess I haven't changed as much as I think I have.

My friends are creative. They're strong. They're smart. They're opinionated. They laugh loudly and give good, hard hugs. They aren't afraid to be themselves, no matter what "everyone else" says. They are so interesting, and I'm so lucky.