Occasionally, in spite of our advancing years, an opportunity to be a little silly, to let our collective hair down a bit, to just be in the same space with dear friends happens. Tomorrow night, this is the case.
Now, for the first time in many years my hair happens to be longer than either of the two women I'm referring to here, because one of them has gone chic short after decades of elegant, long tresses and the other has opted for a medium short, very sassy cut that suits her well and makes her not stress every day, which is saying something. So what I'm saying is my comment about letting hair down is really figurative, not literal. Both of these women have also opted to stop dyeing their hair, which means LV is salt and pepper and gorgeous, and PD is all grey and stunning. I, however, am still waffling and continue to highlight my hair and will until it's really silver instead of in between, I think...
Anyway, these women are remarkable. Interestingly enough, we all met at a law firm many years ago, and became instant and best friends. Something about working in the pressure cooker of that firm galvanized our friendships and aligned us in ways that we can still appreciate. We survived it, and have gone on to bigger, better, and mostly, OTHER things than the roles we played there.
PD is a hoot. She and I shared an office for over a year, and that was the most fun I'd ever had actually working at that point. She is a writer, like me, and she is a smartass, like me, and we appreciate many of the same aspects of this bizarre life, which is lovely. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met, and taught me the meaning of hanging in there with friendship while the battle was raging right outside our door.
LV is a bit of a Renaissance woman. She too is a writer, though a late bloomer. She has in recent years entered her second career, and chose teaching English to high schoolers as her her focus. This should tell you something about LV...she hung in there with the most egotistical and abrasive lawyer bosses in EVER for many years, which demonstrated her moxy very nicely. That wasn't enough, though, not for her. So now she's in the classroom trenches and loves it!
PD and LV and I formed a writing group, and would share our work as we progressed. When we first formalized our writing identities, I was working on a novel, a murder mystery that needed some serious polishing (and remains incomplete d/t time constraints and running out of impetus because the male antagonist and I made up, so I no longer wanted to kill him...ahem...), and they were working on a children's story and an erotic short story, respectively. Our chats, our sessions discussing our work, were incredible. We supported, we constructively criticized, we recommended, we just put all that we had at that point in helping each other push forward on projects that, in spite of what was happening in the rest of our lives, made us feel fabulous, creative, capable, and very much like genuine writers.
I still think about my novel from time to time, and had an epiphany about a plot twist at 3 a.m. a few nights ago that I am probably going to have to work into the story just so I don't keep thinking/dreaming about it. That's how writing is for me - it's all encompassing, and, honestly, if I could do one thing for the rest of my life (besides the new career I've chosen and for which I am currently training like a mad woman), it would be writing. Just writing. Whatever I want. I love it that much.
Anyway, we've been through a lot together. Pregnancies. Relationship rises and falls. Weddings. Grandbabies. Loss of loved ones. Career changes. Existential crises. Parenting peaks and valleys. Joys. Aging parents. Sorrows. You name it, we've collectively encountered, analyzed, and, eventually, resolved many of life's little challenges.
Tomorrow night we and our partners are getting together for dinner at PD's, whose parents (they live with her and her partner and her son) are out of town for a week, and whose teenage son also happens to be away for a few days. Go figure! So it'll just be us and our partners, who also get along famously (which is great because stress over partners that don't get along can be a serious buzz kill for all involved.)
We're having grilled salmon and veggies; caprese salad; copious amounts of wine; dessert and coffee.
I cannot wait. It has been too long since the energy of the three of us has been in the same room and when that happens, almost anything goes. Needless to say, our partners will be our designated grownups for the evening.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Hugs,
Stevie
Now, for the first time in many years my hair happens to be longer than either of the two women I'm referring to here, because one of them has gone chic short after decades of elegant, long tresses and the other has opted for a medium short, very sassy cut that suits her well and makes her not stress every day, which is saying something. So what I'm saying is my comment about letting hair down is really figurative, not literal. Both of these women have also opted to stop dyeing their hair, which means LV is salt and pepper and gorgeous, and PD is all grey and stunning. I, however, am still waffling and continue to highlight my hair and will until it's really silver instead of in between, I think...
Anyway, these women are remarkable. Interestingly enough, we all met at a law firm many years ago, and became instant and best friends. Something about working in the pressure cooker of that firm galvanized our friendships and aligned us in ways that we can still appreciate. We survived it, and have gone on to bigger, better, and mostly, OTHER things than the roles we played there.
PD is a hoot. She and I shared an office for over a year, and that was the most fun I'd ever had actually working at that point. She is a writer, like me, and she is a smartass, like me, and we appreciate many of the same aspects of this bizarre life, which is lovely. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met, and taught me the meaning of hanging in there with friendship while the battle was raging right outside our door.
LV is a bit of a Renaissance woman. She too is a writer, though a late bloomer. She has in recent years entered her second career, and chose teaching English to high schoolers as her her focus. This should tell you something about LV...she hung in there with the most egotistical and abrasive lawyer bosses in EVER for many years, which demonstrated her moxy very nicely. That wasn't enough, though, not for her. So now she's in the classroom trenches and loves it!
PD and LV and I formed a writing group, and would share our work as we progressed. When we first formalized our writing identities, I was working on a novel, a murder mystery that needed some serious polishing (and remains incomplete d/t time constraints and running out of impetus because the male antagonist and I made up, so I no longer wanted to kill him...ahem...), and they were working on a children's story and an erotic short story, respectively. Our chats, our sessions discussing our work, were incredible. We supported, we constructively criticized, we recommended, we just put all that we had at that point in helping each other push forward on projects that, in spite of what was happening in the rest of our lives, made us feel fabulous, creative, capable, and very much like genuine writers.
I still think about my novel from time to time, and had an epiphany about a plot twist at 3 a.m. a few nights ago that I am probably going to have to work into the story just so I don't keep thinking/dreaming about it. That's how writing is for me - it's all encompassing, and, honestly, if I could do one thing for the rest of my life (besides the new career I've chosen and for which I am currently training like a mad woman), it would be writing. Just writing. Whatever I want. I love it that much.
Anyway, we've been through a lot together. Pregnancies. Relationship rises and falls. Weddings. Grandbabies. Loss of loved ones. Career changes. Existential crises. Parenting peaks and valleys. Joys. Aging parents. Sorrows. You name it, we've collectively encountered, analyzed, and, eventually, resolved many of life's little challenges.
Tomorrow night we and our partners are getting together for dinner at PD's, whose parents (they live with her and her partner and her son) are out of town for a week, and whose teenage son also happens to be away for a few days. Go figure! So it'll just be us and our partners, who also get along famously (which is great because stress over partners that don't get along can be a serious buzz kill for all involved.)
We're having grilled salmon and veggies; caprese salad; copious amounts of wine; dessert and coffee.
I cannot wait. It has been too long since the energy of the three of us has been in the same room and when that happens, almost anything goes. Needless to say, our partners will be our designated grownups for the evening.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Hugs,
Stevie
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