Road Trip!!

Friday afternoon, if the Lord is willing and the creek don’t rise, I am leaving my neck of the woods and heading east, over to the Big Easy--New Orleans--to visit with three precious friends of mine.

Two of the friends are a married couple. I met them almost thirty years ago. We all worked together at a summer camp. Later I worked with the wife (A) while her husband (E) attended school in my hometown. I have not seen them in over ten years. They lived out of the country for several years and we kind of lost touch. I am so excited about getting to see them again, excited about renewing our friendship. I think A and I were the last two people in the country to actually write letters to each other! I hope we pick that habit back up.

The other friend is one I worked with on a professional basis for a few months until he was transferred to the East coast and we have kept in touch through email…Oh, I crack myself up, putting such a smooth spin on the situation! I have to tell the truth: he is a psycho therapist and I was a client. He is also a minister who is coming to town to do a wedding for a friend's daughter.

After emailing E, I called to talk to A about the arrangements for when I would be coming to see them. We talked and laughed like there had never been a quiet spot in the friendship. It is one of those kinds of friendships, where you just pick up like there was no gap between the present and the last time you saw them. I know that A and I will not shut up from the moment I arrive till the minute I leave. E will have to grin and bear it, and he will. He will visit a little while and listen to our chatter, and then he will give us our space and let us have our girlie time.

Dr. PT will be a bit of a different story. In some ways, it will be like meeting an internet friend for the first time. Though I am quite comfortable in my emails to him, it will be different meeting him face to face. I get nervous in some social situations. I guess we all do. It’s just that the time will pass so quickly and I don’t want to waste the visit sitting around being a (dull) wallflower.

(Side note from the collage, which I created several weeks ago. Isn't it odd how being "out of the woods" has become a theme for my son and I at this time?):

"In every human encounter, even with a stranger, you have the capacity to close down or open up."

E & A have had some rough spots. A and I were talking about how she had pulled away from everything during that time. I realized I have done the same thing on occasion. It may not exactly be the healthiest way to handle turmoil, but apparently it is not an uncommon method. Of course, the way I see that in a postive light is to say that we take private time to get our equilbrium back, and then we are able to once again open up.

I mentioned to Penni in a comment on her blog that I sometimes feel dishonest because I usually write after I have worked through a situation. I don't like to be exposed during that awkward time where I am struggling to regain my equilibrium. Maybe that is dishonest (or at least, misleading) but it is the way I am. At any rate, this weekend, I am going to enjoy being wide open with my friends.