Gold Friends

"Make new friends, but keep the old, some are silver and the others gold."

I'm sure you've all heard that song.  I am blessed to have a lot of gold friends.  This post is about two of them!

But first, last night I had this conversation with Shyla:

ME: "Sweetie, tonight after bath Mommy is going to go out to dinner with friends and I want you to be a really good girl for Daddy."

SHY: "You is going to bring dinner home?  For me?"

ME: "No sweetie.  Remember you already had dinner?  I made chicken and corn and you ate it all up!  I'm going to have dinner with friends.  At a restaurant.  We are going to eat it there."

SHY: "Why?"

ME: "Well because I have really, really good friends who I don't get to see very often and I really enjoy spending time with them.  Someday you will understand.  So, for tonight, will you be a good girl for Daddy?"

SHY: "Please move.  I am watching my show."

Anyway, last night I got to have dinner with two of my closest friends, whom I rarely get to see: Maren and Pauline.  I'm sure I've posted about them before.  I basically grew up with these two lovely ladies, playing on the same softball team for years (and years).

You have to understand that we weren't on just any softball team.  It is hard to explain.  We were on a really good team that traveled a lot.  We spent nearly every weekend of our summers, as well as many weekends during the school year, traveling all over the country (except Phoenix as we got older, but that's another story for another day) for softball tournaments.  The majority of our team went on to play collegiate level softball, many at the division one level, or at least had offers from such programs (another story for another day, perhaps).

We sacrificed a lot for this indescribable experience.  We missed a lot of Friday Night Football Games, weekend parties, family functions, and almost missed prom preparations one year.

Now that I am a parent I am beginning to realize just how much our parents sacrificed so we could have this experience as well.  Money, quality time together, sanity, just to name a few things.

But regardless of what we sacrificed, willingly of course, what we gained far outweighs any of that.  We learned responsibility at really young ages.  We learned teamwork, and what it felt like to be a group of individuals working diligently toward one goal.  We learned assertiveness; how to stand up for each other and, at times, how to stand up to each other.  We learned how to lead, both by example and by words.  We learned to accept each other's differences and enjoy our similarities.  We learned accountability, that we would only be as strong as our weakest player.  We learned how to properly pack, behave in an airport, take care of our money, and countless other things that we will and have taken into our adult lives.

I'd like to pause here, momentarily, to say "I can't believe we are almost 30!"

We had wins and losses, on and off the field.  Good days and bad days, on and off the field.  And we helped each other through each one.

In the 10+ years since we all shared a field (of dreams?) together, donned the same mesh uniforms, and sought out an Old Spaghetti Factory everywhere we went, I have had a few lucky opportunities to get together with some of my besties from that era to reconnect.

Last night to got to catch up with these two beauties:

It's amazing how so much time can pass, yet so many things remain the same.  When you share your childhood with someone, sometimes it can feel like they know you better than you know you.

Thank you, ladies, for being such an integral part of my life.