Life of Wry

This one’s a true long-term friendship. I’m sure I mentioned it before, but as we wrap up a week of hanging out, it’s worth mentioning again: our moms met a bit before either of us was conceived — just a bit — and were friends for the rest of their lives. Betsy and I “met” in April of 1956 (her birthday, or thereabouts) — just about 67 years ago — and we, too, have been friends for our entire lives. There have been years when we were less in touch, but, safe to say, from here on out, it’ll be a pretty reliable relationship.

In the photo above, I’m second from left (as always, tugging at my hem), Betsy’s the blond next to me. (Penny Lambert and Janet Starck round out the foursome.) We’re pretty cute (IMHO), and, funnily, seem to embody the same personalities there that we do now.. me: slightly goofy and fidgety, not quite sure how to pose for the camera, and Betsy: probably took and held her position as asked, probably before the rest of us. (Penny, an older girl with a wild streak who smoked early and wore a buzz cut in college; and Janet who had strict, dark, older parents and became a violin maker).

I’ve already blogged about pretty much everything we did. On our Davis days, we took numerous walks around town, ate meals in and out, went to two movies. Taking advantage of the spectacular break in the weather and a full week of clear, sparkly sunniness, we spent a day in San Francisco, a day at Lake Tahoe, and a day in Napa Valley… which meant we did a lot of this ..

Which was totally worth it, as all the drives were pretty, too. Northern California really showed off for Betsy this week.. made me proud!

We also sat by the fire a bunch (it was sunny, but not terribly warm!), talked and talked and talked, and managed to squeeze in a few hours of this:

Games of choice were gin rummy and the dice game Farkle, a new one for me and man, I wish I knew somebody around here who would play it with me.. super fun.

And yes ma’am, that is a bottle of Fireball whisky, on hand in honor of mom, who enjoyed drinking it (spiking her Ensure is the story Betsy tells). I will note we are also drinking hot tea, so, you know, not completely wild and crazy. I still think mom would approve.

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So I got pretty nostalgic this afternoon after she left. Grateful for this friendship — and its extraordinary history — and a small handful of other ones. I’m partial to the friendships that date back to PV days (I’m looking at you Judy and Sally), as they just feel deeply familiar and intimate, reaching back to childhood as they do, building on a shared past. Nowhere to really hide in those relationships… it’s all known and understood.

Feels good.