I had the opportunity to spend a few hours today with a friend who I haven't seen for 20 years! Elsa and I were great pals in 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, when I lived in Texas. Our houses were walking distance apart, so we spent a lot of time together. We walked to and from school together. On weekends, we rode our bikes all over the small city where we lived, just south of Houston. If we happened to see one of the cute boys we had crushes on in his yard, our day was made.
When I moved to another state after 10th grade, Elsa and I kept in touch. I went on to college in New York, while she attended one in Texas. Afterwards, she ended up going to grad school in Europe and kept me posted on her adventures there. She returned to the States and began working for the government, which again took her out of the country, working and living in the Middle East and Europe, where she currently lives.
I was so excited to hear from her a couple of weeks ago and learn she'd be in Los Angeles for a visit. Due to some unforseen circumstances, it looked like we were not even going to get to see each other, which was very disappointing for both of us. However, a few things changed, we were able to spend the afternoon together, and it was wonderful. Admittedly, mixed in with my excitement about our reunion, was some nervousness. I couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like if we'd both changed so much in the past two decades that we had nothing to talk about.
I picked Elsa up at her hotel near the airport and we went to Santa Monica. We walked along 3rd Street Promenade a bit and found a place with outdoor seating for lunch. We had no trouble finding things to discuss and it felt very comfortable. There were updates on our families, our careers, our significant others. She told me about life in the Middle East and Europe. I told her about life in L.A. I brought along some old photos and we laughed at the hairstyles and fashion. We talked about everything from former classmates to religion to music to politics.
In many ways, Elsa and I are different people than we were all those years ago. But, we must be the same in some ways too. It's so nice when an old friendship is as comfortable as a broken in shoe. I'm so happy that it went well and am even more excited about keeping in touch. I'm just bummed about one thing. Elsa and I never did get that apartment in London that we were going to share after graduating from high school.
5/06/2006
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1 comments:
Great story! What does Elsa do for the government?
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