You’ll see three pictures in this post. I’ve seen all three of them in the last two months. One is a friend from middle school; the other has been a family friend since high school and then the mom and daughter, I didn’t meet until I was in my thirties. I’ve met ALL of their parents. How neat is that? It’s the start of a new year and I’ve yet to put in the time I’d like to for reflection. My friend Courtney (hugging photo) and I lived about a mile apart in middle school and the start of junior high. She was definitely one of my best friends back then. Her family ended up moving to Atlanta around our seventh or eighth grade year. It was a big bummer. However, thanks to social media, we’ve stayed connected. It wasn’t until quite recently that I reconnected with her parents who still live in Georgia. We had dinner one night and it felt like being in a time machine while wearing my favorite old sweater. Courtney, who now lives in Rhode Island, came to town for Christmas so we reunited. We hadn’t seen each other in years.
The next picture is of my friend Mollie, who is a longtime friend and practically family. Mollie is a letter-writer like me and that gets her all the stars in my yelp review. She’s a fashion icon, a good deep convo partner and has a loyal heart of gold. She’s one of my little sister’s best friends. When I moved to New York, she traveled there for work often so we were able to spent time together regularly. The other day I had a marco polo from her saying she’d be in Atlanta for work, so once again, we met up to catch up on life and pop culture. She showed up in a statement jacket that forced compliments out of the mouths of passerby. Mollie is also hilarious. We gushed in a parking garage over the movie Don’t Look Up - yes we are talking to you Timothee Chalamet, Mark Rylance and Melanie Lynskey; then we cheers’d our espresso martinis to our prom dates and our homecoming queen losses. Blurry friend pictures are necessary and worth it.
The mother / daughter + me photo is taken at one of my favorite spots in all of Manhattan - Lincoln Center. It was a girls night, recently, where we did dinner at The Smith and a lovely stroll back to their cozy apartment, which has a great view of the Hudson. These two ladies have poured significant amounts of love into my life over the last six years. I met Jodie (mom) and Norah (daughter) my first year in New York. I vow, here and now, to stay in their lives forever. I was fortunate enough to babysit Norah when she was much younger and years later, blessed again by having her help with her adventurous and passionate little brother, Conor. Their apartment was always a safe place for me to land in a city that required a lot of energy, all of the time. Jodie is someone I admire greatly. She’s a lover of music, writer and, i’ll add, developer of people. She’s awesome. I will one day write a whole post about Jodie & her family. Her husband Brett is pretty incredible too - we road tripped to the Poconos together and had a ball - McDonalds pit stop included. So, more on them to come. I just wanted to write this because I want to make sure I always pay attention and express gratitude for the people that come in and out of my life (& then hopefully back IN!). It’s extraordinary how many fantastically unique people I’ve been able to meet & know in this little life of mine…and it’s STILL GOING. Thanks for reading all this personal jibber jabber. I needed to write today. More to come.
Sincerely,
a sentimental lil’ redhead in Atlanta
