I Remember When...

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God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December. - J.M. Barrie

I had dinner with two of my college friends last Saturday night. With very few exceptions, these two ladies are basically the only connections I have left to my college days. I've pretty much lost touch with just about anyone else from those days, but the three of us have maintained a strong connection in the ten years since graduation. Whoa...hold on, I have to take that in...TEN years. Whew...that was a bit of a shocker.

Okay, moving on... B.F.F. and I met on the very first day of freshman year, and hit it off instantly. I knew we'd be "best friends forever" (b.f.f.s), and I'm happy to report I was correct. B.F.F. is seriously the kind of friend everyone wants to have in their life. She has always been there in times of need, and never wavered even during HER own times of need. She is the one who calls the day before a job interview to wish you luck, and the day after a surgery to ask how you are feeling. I'm blessed to have B.F.F. in my life, and only hope that I've been as good a friend to her as she has been to me. Because we have always lived closer to each other than most of my other college friends, we've never lost touch, and have always been a part of each other's lives. I was even one of B.F.F.'s bridesmaids at her wedding.

I honestly don't remember how we became friendly with La Griega, but think that maybe it was B.F.F. who met her first. As much as I don't recall how we became friendly, I do know that through the years, it really is to her credit that we all still get together regularly. Hers is the first Christmas card I receive every year, and not a single birthday has gone by unremembered by her.

The three of us make an effort to get together at least once a year for a "catch-up" dinner. You would think with all of us living within an hour of each other, we'd manage more than that, but unfortunately, we usually don't. Therefore, our yearly dinners tend to be marathon sessions, where we sit and chat away the hours while the waitstaff give us dirty looks for occupying their table way too long.

Saturday night was one of those evenings, and although our waitress was a gem, I'm sure even she couldn't wait to see our backsides walking out the door. Still, we had a wonderful time catching up, and it was nice to get B.F.F. out of the house for some fun girl time, as she just recently lost her mom, and therefore, needed a carefree night out.

This was actually our second time getting together this year, so in addition to our "catch up" conversations, we actually had time to take a trip down memory lane, and relive some of our college moments. Tales of ex-boyfriends became the focus for awhile, and man alive, if that wasn't a fun conversation. There were stories I'd forgotten, and those I'd rather not remember, and guys whose names I can't recall (I know, I know, that's horrible). But all that talk made me realize that when I was younger, I was quite the player in the game of romance.

And it seems that I'm destined to travel through my memories this month, because along with dinner on Saturday night, I'm also plowing my way through a box of old writings. In this box I've found everything from short stories, to poetry, to that novel I never quite finished. But perhaps the greatest find have been bits and pieces of journals, which detail everything from high school crushes, to the day I met my first true love.

All of these pieces of my history have reminded me of something a co-worker I once had used to tell me "You could write soap opera scripts with the tales of your love life". Perhaps he was exagerating a bit, but some of these stories scream to be told. And so, since my current love life is pretty much non-existent, with perhaps the exception of LawBoy, perhaps I'll regale you with tales from my past loves and losses. What do you think?

As for my friends, dinner on Saturday night was a blast, and ten years later, the three of us have become completely different women, but with our friendship a solid common bond. B.F.F. is married, and has a little boy. La Griega has had about the same luck as I in the romance department, with the added stress of her very traditional Greek family wanting her to marry a Greek guy. But we have all enjoyed each others successes in life, and love to relive each others crazy past escapades. I can't wait to see where the future will take us.

So live that your memories will be part of your happiness. - Author Unknown