Happy Birthday, Joanna!
On Friday morning-at 6:40 I might add-I left on a flight to Atlanta to surprise my friend Joanna for her 30th birthday. Her husband Scott worked so hard to arrange this very big surprise. He had her family in from Baton Rouge, Austin, and New York. Her friends came in from Austin, Asheville, Slidell, and San Deigo. The family stayed at hotels, while the friends met at their friends Dana and Bill's house, which is literally about two blocks from Scott and Joanna's. Joanna thought that Scott was in Chicago on business but no, he was just a hop, skip, and a jump away. We all hung out over there then we went to Fritti, a really cool and trendy Italian place, for dinner. Angie brought Joanna up to the restaurant and lo and behold! There we all were-about 25 of us-waiting to yell surprise. And she was surprised, for sure! We hung out all weekend and celebrated the birth of Joanna, who is not only a good friend, but also an amazing woman.
I flew back yesterday and today I am sad. I always get sad after I've spent time with the greatest group of friends I've ever had. Not everyone in our group could be there, but everyone was there in spirit. Why can't we all live in the same city? It's a fantasy of mine that will never come to life but I can dream, right? My older and wiser coworker told me that I need to make new "buds" here and I have, but it's not the same. I think that the older you get, the harder it is to form a really close, tight-knit group, the way that ours is. That's been my experience anyway. I don't have a single group of friends here. Instead, I have friends scattered about here and there, all of whom I've met during different periods of the five years that I've lived here. I miss the camaraderie and the dynamics of a group, ya know?
We all take an annual trip, and this year we're going to Florida in May. We've rented a really plush, super cool beach house with a private pool (there's a bunch of us so we can afford it!) Half the fun is planning and anticipating, but I can't help but wish it were coming sooner. I have to say that even though my group isn't all in one location, I wouldn't trade groups for the world.
I flew back yesterday and today I am sad. I always get sad after I've spent time with the greatest group of friends I've ever had. Not everyone in our group could be there, but everyone was there in spirit. Why can't we all live in the same city? It's a fantasy of mine that will never come to life but I can dream, right? My older and wiser coworker told me that I need to make new "buds" here and I have, but it's not the same. I think that the older you get, the harder it is to form a really close, tight-knit group, the way that ours is. That's been my experience anyway. I don't have a single group of friends here. Instead, I have friends scattered about here and there, all of whom I've met during different periods of the five years that I've lived here. I miss the camaraderie and the dynamics of a group, ya know?
We all take an annual trip, and this year we're going to Florida in May. We've rented a really plush, super cool beach house with a private pool (there's a bunch of us so we can afford it!) Half the fun is planning and anticipating, but I can't help but wish it were coming sooner. I have to say that even though my group isn't all in one location, I wouldn't trade groups for the world.
posted by Angela at 2:20 PM
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