The taxis pull up to the off campus apartment to take us into Boston. We tumble outside and into the waiting vehicles, giggling and excited for our night on the town. We’ve been waiting for months to celebrate our 21st birthdays together, and I’ve been the hold up as the youngest in the group. Now we all have licenses that allow us to order drinks whenever we wish and enter any bar that we want. This being Boston where ancient Blue Laws still exist, the night will end by 2 a.m. But that’s OK. What matters is that we’re all finally together after the previous semester of being apart. The next time we go into Boston for a night out, I drive. After circling Newberry Street for what seems like an eternity, we finally find a place to park. But it’s a parallel parking space, and I don’t really know how to get into it. (Gulp). In the state of Illinois, where I took drivers’ ed, parallel parking is not required to obtain a license, so I never really bothered to learn. After several failed … [Read more...]
The Princess & the Playground
“Remind me again, the name of the princess you were for your fourth birthday? You know, Sleeping Beauty? What’s her actual name?” I’m reminisicing with Miss J before bedtime one night. Her birthday is coming up, and since it coincides with Halloween, she gets to pick any costume she wants. Miss J turns nine this year, and I can’t believe it’s been five years since princess was everything her heart desired. “Aurora?” she half asks, half tells me. I’m not sure if she’s incredulous that I can’t remember the Disney character or just being matter of fact. Maybe a little bit of both? After all, tweendom is on the horizon, and the antics have already begun. “Oh, yes. Aurora. Remember when you dressed up like her for your party?” It was the first birthday party we held for her in our new suburban house. I was excited to finally have the proper space for her whole preschool class plus other friends and family. We rented little mini tables for the kids, painted pumpkins and had a … [Read more...]
Counting Down To 40…
Since the children were very little, it’s always been our fall ritual to go apple picking with our friends the Feinbergs. He and my husband were groomsmen for one another in our weddings, and we've known each other's kids since birth. The outing is now a part of our traditions together, another piece of fabric sewn into the quilt of our friendship. We load up the minivans and head to Wisconsin for some hay rides and tree climbing in the orchards. With each passing year, the kids become more independent, better able to navigate their way amidst the trees and pick the best apples offered. They used to require a boost to reach the upper branches. Now we watch them scurry up on their own. Tasting the fresh fruit and feeling the juices run down our chins, signals the arrival of this most beautiful season, just as much as watching the leaves change and seeing the pumpkins arrive on doorsteps. This year, when I call my friend to find a date, we both quickly become dismayed as we tick … [Read more...]
From Fourteen to Forty…
The little town with the lake house sits sandwiched between the suburbs where we all live and a resort town in the state next door. We are invited up for the day with our kids. No husbands, please. Our hostess tells me it's a celebration of sorts to mark the culmination of that period between school ending and camp beginning. I call this period "purgatory," as I’m not sure whether to relish or lament the lack of schedule. It depends on the day, the hour, the minute. But this day we’ve had on the calendar for a while, and I’ve been looking forward to spending time with some of my oldest and dearest friends. My guess is in high school, some people saw us as a clique. We ate lunch together. We congregated together in that intimidating, insecure way teenagers congregate. We always ended up together on the weekends, even if we started the night separately. We took photographs together with our dates before school dances. For graduation, we organized a big dinner with our families; then … [Read more...]
For My Friend on What Should Be Her 40th Birthday
Ten years ago today, my due date with my first child coincides with Mera's 30th birthday. When I call Mera to send my best wishes and good cheer, I tell her I’m not sure if I can make it to the special steak dinner at Angelo and Maxie’s later that night. She understands because that is just like her to understand a circumstance she herself has yet to experience. Mera’s that good of a friend. I spend the day reclining on my couch, my legs splayed out in front of me, my burgeoning belly contracting and then stopping. Only 5% of women actually deliver on their due date, yet for some reason I figure I will be among them. As the hours tick by, I go from bored to mildly depressed that nothing is happening. To distract myself, I think about Mera’s birthday dinner and debate whether to go. Yes, I’m very pregnant and uncomfortable, but it is her 30th birthday, a milestone for sure, and one that carries even more weight because of her secret. It’s a secret that only a few of us know: Mera … [Read more...]
