Surrounded by loved ones

I had the long over due privilege to share a week with my friends from Alabama.
My family moved from there over twelve years ago.
I raised my babies there.

It was a joy to have uninterrupted time to spend with these lovely ladies.
It was as though no time had passed at all,
from the moment we were sitting on my front porch swings in our twenties,
to sitting on my back porch in our forties.

Yes, I did fall back into a slight Southern accent again.
It is hard not to, even if you have never been to the South,
whuile being around these Soiuthern bells.
We went to Chicago for a few days, and had wonderful food,
found amazing deals on souvenirs,
and spoiled ourselves with bath products from Lush.
We slept late and went to bed early!
Anyone passing who heard my friends speaking
would stop us and ask where they were from.
It's amazing how people are lulled into the sweetness of them,
and take a bit of it with them.
More about Chicago later....

My query today is if it is possible to meld old friendships with new.

The dixie chicks had a bbq at my home with the girly girls.
I thought it was a lovely evening.
But how did they feel?

I know the dixie chicks were wanting to dress up
and make a good impression on the girly girls.
They didn't even have to try.
The girly girls came as they do....
from work or play, comfortable with themselves and each other.
Cheery and welcoming.
They seemed a bit quieter than I remember though.
Were they pulled into the accents too?

Hilary's friends came to meet the girls.
We spent hours chatting and sharing.
It was wonderful to see these children, our age then,
exploring the women we are now.
Did they get the same sense I did?
In twenty years, you could be reminiscing with your kids
about how you acted when you were their age?!
The only difference I noticed was that at their age,
we were all mothers and wives.

I was a young mother with the dixie chicks.
Learned to raise my kids,
who I was becoming as a person, not a child,
faced challenges and life lessons with them.

With the girly girls, we solved life problems of middle age,
fought marriage hardships together,
explored ourselves in a new age of maturity and spirituality.
We are able now, to drop everything at 2 am if one of us is in need.

With the dixie chicks, we would have to make sure
the babies were taken care of before we jumped.
But they were also always there.

Yes, in high school I knew almost everyone
and flitted from lunch table to lunch table.
I wasn't popular, or a rockette, but I was friendly.

A beach trip was mentioned this week.
I jumped to invite all the girly girls to join the dixie chicks.
Not sure if they are as excited as I am.

Do you find that old and new friendships can mesh?
I would love all of my friends to surround me
and love on each other as they love on me.
Is this unreasonable?

I try to think back to lunches I have had with new friends,
who are old friends to each other.
I felt a bit uncomfortable with their shared history and conversations,
that I was not included in.
Not on purpose, but that is just how things carry on in lunch chatting.

Is it the long time spent, sharing one anothers' lives that makes friendships,
or the initial connection of a mutual friend?
Can my love of someone, pass over and make that tie
between strangers who are not strangers to me,
but only to each other?

Can I invite the newly found high school friends from facebook,
into my world now?
Or do I keep the relationships separate?
Intimacy takes trust and time and shared events.

I live in a fantasy, rose colored world, don't I?

So...the beach in September my friends....come and spend some time!
Open yourselves to people I trust and trust them yourselves.

I am blessed!