Old Friends

Todd and I spent the weekend in Vermont, and it was the first time I'd been back in about a decade. Funny to think that I've been gone for longer than I was there.

Friday was all about my trip down memory lane. We stayed with a childhood friend of Todd's from who lives up near Burlington, about an hour from where I grew up. We drove down to my part of the state on Friday morning and met one of my high school friends for coffee. She and I have only recently reconnected, and what's been fun is how easily we've picked up our friendship. We've gone in pretty different directions — she's married to a military chaplain and is an active baptist now, for instance — but the foundation of our friendship is surprisingly solid after such a long break.

Lunch was with my dad and his wife. It was the first time that Todd has met my father, so it was nice to make those introductions and see them get to know each other a bit.

Then it was on to dinner with Roland (yes, all we did was eat on Friday), another high school friend who I hadn't seen since graduation. He brought his lovely wife and adorable three year old son, who charmed us all throughout the meal with his patience with all the boring adult talk. Todd's friends joined us, too, and it was great to bring both groups together.

It was a little odd to have a homecoming after so long away. For much of Friday, I didn't remember how to get from one place to another, and some landmarks had changed in my memory but not at all in reality. Others had changed in reality and threw me off.