Keep reading, please. This isn’t going where you might think.
My favorite ‘F’ word without a doubt is Family. In fact, family is a recurring theme in most of my writing. But running a close second is the word Friendship. I love the concept of Friendship – people we welcome into our lives because we want them there. Unlike family members whom we might absolutely adore or barely tolerate, sharing time with friends is our choice. People we share common interests with – work, children, pets, exercise, sports or hobbies. Good times and bad. There’s nothing as wonderful as a good friend.
Over the years, I’ve met some wonderful women, and I’ve enjoyed some great friendships. But three women in particular shared an astounding experience with me a few years ago.
We all worked together at the same business, but one of the gals had resigned and pursued a new job opportunity. The day we hugged her goodbye promising to keep in touch, we agreed to meet one Tuesday night of every month for dinner. We chose the first restaurant we’d dine at and, being jokesters, we set some random time like 5:18 to meet. Little did we know that first dinner set in motion over two years’ worth of dinners out, all set at a silly random time like 5:21 or 6:02, to meet and catch up on everyone’s news.
One month a gal showed up with her mother who happened to be in town and thought her daughter crazy when she warned her that they had to meet for dinner at 5:47. Some months there were only three of us when someone couldn’t attend due to other commitments. Other months there were ten or more people around the table as I’ve explained below. But every month we had a blast.
After a while we decided to shake it up a little. Someone suggested next month we bring a friend for dinner. Everyone showed up with a girlfriend most of the others hadn’t met before, and we had a ball! Double the fun, double the laughter. One or two of the gals had so much fun they asked to become a permanent member of the group. Naturally, we said yes.
One month we agreed to bring our husbands or significant others with us to dinner, and the guys all got along great. Dinner was wonderful and the guys shared in the laughter. Finally, they understood why nothing short of hospitalization would keep us from our monthly dinners out. Apparently, we didn’t discuss sports or cars or other guy stuff enough. None of them asked to join our group on a permanent basis.
When I moved with my husband to Calgary in 2006, I had to go cold turkey on our monthly dinners out. Our little group disbanded shortly thereafter. My relocating might have in some way contributed to the decision, but by then we’d done it all. We only met at the same restaurant about six times. Every month we tried somewhere new. I still miss the wonderful dinners and shared laughter on those evenings out with my best girlfriends.
What triggered this bit of reminiscence, you ask? Out of the blue this morning, an idea popped into my head – my dinner gals should arrange a reunion! Brilliant, right? Now, please excuse me. I’m looking forward to emailing some old friends about dinner.
