Traditions are important to me. Having roommates for all of my adult life, I really enjoy roommate traditions. Then, I have a few traditions I keep, the ones just for me. And having lived in different cities, I’ve had traditions based around place. Something that has brought me a lot of joy over the years is a group of friends I’ve known since college. One of the gals in that group, Meg, has been gracious enough to be my very loyal friend since high school. This group of ladies has loved me in a lot of creative and patient ways over the years. I’ve lived with five out of the six of them at one time or another. I moved to Chicago with two of them. And as far as Meg goes, she was my best friend in high school and we lived together freshman year of college (& joined the same sorority). I’m lucky to call them friends.
These girls sent me a glitter lava lamp during the pandemic; they’ve sent me birthday gifts and cards; and there’s never been a shortage of texts or calls, or video messages. Not too long ago, one of them had an ’80s high school reunion-themed murder mystery party that I wasn’t able to make it back for. The night of the party, they sent me a picture of a framed photo of me, photoshopped to look more 80s, with a Gone Too Soon Dedication. Sounds dark, but it made me feel loved and very much a part of the night. But, back to tradition!
Over the years, we’ve managed to do a Girl Trip. It tends to happen around February. We go to a cabin or lake house for about 48 hours and do a lot of nothing. We eat, do puzzles, watch movies, play games, talk and laugh a lot. There’s definitely the other side too though. When you’re that close with people for that long, if the friendships are deep, then someone is bound to get their feelings hurt or get in a disagreement. I will say that I’ve learned a lot from these women and I think we each have distinctive personalities, which I believe is a really good thing. We lasted this long and I don’t see that ever changing. That annual trip & those friendships are the massive something that I hold with the same reverence as I do tradition. Spending time with those ladies, on that trip (but really whenever we are together), is a big blessing and a tradition I hope we do into our old age.
