In my last post, I mentioned that I was planning a dinner party for a group of friends who have been getting together once a month for 32 years.
Since we first met in 1979...
1983
Our little "Gourmet Group" has been together on skis, hay wagons, harbor cruises... 
1988
Boston-bound trains...
and even a one-horse open sleigh (OK...make that 3 sleighs!).
We've shared Italian food, Greek food, Mexican food, Scottish food, Chinese food, and more than one Octoberfest ...
We've wined and dined together at ballparks and beaches, in limos and rainy tents...
on back porches...
2005
and under the stars.
And some of our dinner parties were just thinly-veiled excuses to dress up in perfectly ridiculous costumes.
1988
2010
(My sister, Nancy, is the Ladybug)
"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
The group is a little smaller now...and a little grayer. We've celebrated births, weddings, and graduations together.
And we've endured losses together.
Bob 3/10
Nancy 11/10
But one Saturday a month we still put everything else aside for a few hours and get together for just one more dinner...
2011
like we did again this weekend.
And of all the vintage treasures I've collected over the years...
My "vintage" friends are the very best finds of all.
"Are we going to be friends forever"? Asked Piglet.
"Even longer," Pooh answered.
How do you keep in touch with your oldest friends? I'd love to hear your stories...
This post is linked to my blog friends at:
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern StyleTabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life
Tuesday's Treasures Fall Party at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
9 comments:
How very lucky you are to have such a wonderful group of friends! It is still my goal to reunite a group of women for a Christmas party. We are all so busy with work and families, but girl time is good too.
I will be publishing my dedication post to my sister-in-law this week. It's always bittersweet to look at old photos of them, isn't it?
How wonderful to have such a special group of friends to share the journey! We are finding that so many of our friends are moving far away now or leaving this life much too early. Our group is getting smaller and smaller. It just makes you cherish each other all the more for the time you have together!
Cheryl,
You are so very lucky to have stayed friends with so many for so long!! This is a rarity in today's society, I think.
Everyone seems to be running here and running there with no time in between
What all of you have is definitely a blessing and that you make time , no matter what, to get together and celebrate your lives is priceless. You are all so very lucky!!.
I guess one of my biggest heartaches was working with 2 girls for over 20 years who knew me better than my own family did. But when they left the job, they left my life. It was a loss that I still grieve....
Hugs,
Debbie
What wonderful memories your group must share. I wish I had a group like that to be a part of. There is a smaller group of teachers who used to teach in the same school. One of them has an annual party at Christmas to get us all together. I've missed it the past two years since I've moved away from them. I hope to make it back this year.
Too many of our friends and family have gone before us too..So our group is very small. We try to get together at least once a year...how sad is that..Keep your group going..you all look like you are having so much fun..Blessing to you all..
What fun! True friends are a gift. And memories of those gone add to the closeness. It's nice you have each other.
Saw your blog name, on a comment in "Sand Flat Farm" blog and came over. (I love cottages.)
What a lovely post this is. And what a lovely reason for your blog.
Gentle hugs,
"Auntie♥" (who is backkkkkkkkkkk) ,-)
"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." ~~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
You are so lucky that you still have a large group of friends that still get together and can be SILLY! Never forget those that are no longer here, but they are looking down and saying.... what are they thinking!
Love the pictures of how your group has been together through thick and thin. This is what you call LIFE TIME friends. Lucky lady!
I don't think people have close friends for so long anymore. A lot of us have moved around over the years. I know my parents spent pretty much their entire lives in the same NJ town and had a lot of the same friends from childhood on. What I've experienced is that once you move away after a while people become Christmas card friends. Of course, nowadays maybe people stay in touch a little better with E-mail and cell phones, but that would only be within the last 10-15 years. I'm very envious of your friendships.
I did find an old childhood friend's e-mail address on our high school's alumni site around 6-7 years ago and we reconnected via e-mail and did manage to see each other a couple of times. Sadly, I recently learned she died when I didn't hear back from her and finally googled her name and pulled up her obituary.
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