A Preview of What is To Come

I went out for supper last night with My Friend. The Friend that will be going to Alaska with me.

The evening started with her noticing that we have (almost) the exact same purses. She bought hers a few months ago in preparation for our trip. My purse is 'three purses old'. The zipper fob had broke and I found it stashed in the recesses of my closet this past fall. It felt like Christmas when I found this (almost) usable purse within the confines of my own home. And My Friend recently purchased one just like it. It is an omen.

This feeling of connection began almost five years ago when we sat down at a table and picked up our friendship where we had last left off. There was a little bit of the 'tell me about the last 28 years of your life', but there was a lot of those meaningful 'I get what you are not saying' moments. It was easy.

It took us several years to set a time and place to get together for coffee. As soon as we sat down, we were off and running. Three hours and two cups of coffee later, we were not only fortified with a dose of caffeine, but we knew that our long time friendship was going to be part of our future.

My friend's aunt knows my dad's family well, so we went on a few 'field trips' to collect memories for my dad's family's story. It is an hour and a half drive each way. Three more hours to reconnect and find that we were able to complete each other's thoughts. We were on the same wavelength and each of us appreciated and acknowledged that this is a connection of a true friend.

The next time we met, I had already purchased my Alaskan Cruise holiday. As she asked many questions about my upcoming holiday, I had no idea what was going on in her mind until she told me. She wanted to check with her husband first, but if he was okay with the idea she would like to join me. The rest is history.

We sat down for our fifth visit in five years last night. We sat back and marvelled at the parallel lives that we have led in our adult years.

Our first born children were born within the same month of the same year. She became a grandma within six months of my last child being born. We laughed about that as I mentioned my surprise to find out that I was going to be a Mom one more time, at such an advanced age. But I quietly laughed to myself and thought, "Well ... I could just as easily be becoming a Grandma ... and I liked the idea of 'Mom' better". She quickly replied, "I chose Grandma!"

There is a language that we speak that goes beyond the surface. I hear her words and some of the adages she lives by and I have a sense of feeling that I have walked a parallel path.

There are many, many ways that our lives are polar opposite. But it is in the roots of the hills in which our parents were born and raised, and those same hills where we grew up that has forged a connection. A connection that goes far beyond the fact that we became friends because we lived one short country road away from each other.

Our parents knew each other as children. Their families have many co joined memories. We know all of the same people. There is a depth of shared history that has enhanced our renewed friendship.

Once again, I can't help but think of my dad. My Dad who was a friend to my friend's parents. Her parents and my dad are no longer with us. It is at times like these that I feel a sense of wondering if Dad and her parents are together and smiling down on our friendship and are grateful that our paths have crossed once again and our childhood friendship has been rekindled.

As I gazed at My Friend's purse and reviewed the many small connections that we have, I know without a doubt that this amazing Holiday Adventure will only be enhanced with my First Friend at my side.