Never – not for a fraction of a second – have I felt that coincidence was involved. There is no coincidence in us being brought together. There is no coincidence that we all became friends – and wanted nothing more than to be with one another. Always. I’ve always felt that we were a perfect blend of personalities. A perfect hodge-podge. A seamless, picture-perfect fit.
How I love these people.
Who are we? We are best friends.
All brought together because of Church. All hardened because of school. All memories because of Seminary. All bonded because of a deep connection that has stood the test of time.
I can’t explain it. But to say that I pity those that don’t have what we did. And even that ... is an understatement.
Today, we’re spread all over the place. We’re all in different stages of life. It’s been about 8 years since we’ve all been together. A few of us would see each other, here and there. A few have remained in this area. A few of us kept in contact in other ways. Some, we lost contact with all together. Thanks to the glory of Facebook, etc. - we have been reunited. And its been a blessing - most assuredly to me - to be able to call them ‘friend’ again.
When we realized that a big chunk of us would be in town at the same time, we promptly began planning a reunion. Just had to. We planned it for the night of August 14th - to be held at my mom’s house. We had to include her. She was our Seminary teacher - the best Seminary teacher that ever lived, I can assure you. It’s true that most everyone referred to her in some ‘Mom’ sense, at some point. Either that or affectionately as, ‘Sister R’. And so she needed to be there, too.
It’s true, that some of us were a little apprehensive going in. Nervous, even. Simply because it had been so long. And we are all on different roads in life. We’ve all grown. We’ve all changed. We aren’t the same people that we were all those years ago. I was one of those people.
And there was that brief flash of awkwardness. But then - then! - in just a few seconds, we were all finishing each other’s sentences, remembering the same great memories, and - most importantly - being the same good friends. It’s lovely to know that - even though everything changes - everything is just the same. The important things.
We had good conversation. We had good junk food. We took pictures. We reminisced. We laughed until things came out our nose.
It was all ... perfect.
***
We played a rad game of Swat. Our old Seminary game. You all have a ‘name’, and you sit in a circle - with one person in the middle with the Swat stick (a taped up newspaper that hurts like the devil). Someone says someone else’s ‘name’, and the person in the middle has to race to smack the person with that ‘name’ before they say someone else’s ‘name’. If they get hit, they are in the middle. Good fun. Don’t knock it till you try it. Always better in small, cramped, enclosed spaces. Like buses.
Our names for this particular game ...
Sister Robinson : Chile
Tamra : America (USA)
Lyndsey : Uruguay
Kira : Switzerland
Crystal : Mongolia
Stacy : England
Jacob : Argentina
Chris : Italia (Italy)
Jaime : Brazil
Fidel : China
How did it go? Uh ... smashingly.
***
For the record books - and because we just can’t forget - here are some memorable highlights from that night, in no particular order, compiled by all of us ...
Kira : “I need some bleach!”
Jaime : “In Maryland, the women are u.g.l.y” | “Toward the end, they were getting better … but I think that’s just ‘cause I was getting used to them.” (referencing his brief stint in Maryland)
Jaime : “I swear her name was Mary.” | “She had blonde-ish hair … and two eyes … and a nose …” (trying to figure out who a particular someone was that we may – or may not – have known)
Jacob, Crystal, The Girls : “I didn’t pick that out.” | “Yes. Yes, you did. You gave this to me for Christmas.” | “Jacob … this is when you say, ‘Yes, dear.’” (referencing Crystal’s shirt)
Stacy, Jacob : “Are you s.t.i.l.l growing?” | “No. You’re shrinking.”
Jaime : “To all those ‘little boys’ – I was their hero.” (referencing Boy Scouts)
Fidel to Sister Robinson : “You only gave us pity candy. Five chances to answer and then, ‘Here, have this.’” (referencing Seminary rewards)
Jacob to Stacy : “That helps when you say my name.” (referencing the constant presence of four or more conversations … and the boys not being able to keep up)
Fidel : “I’m learning. He’s a good influence.” (referencing Jaime’s desire to teach him not to do ‘everything’ for his wife.’)
Jaime : “Pregnancy isn’t a disease.”
Jacob : “Dirt Cake? DIRT CAKE?!”
Stacy : “He’s dug himself all the way to China tonight.” (referencing Jaime getting himself in trouble, over and over and over again)
Jaime to The Boys : “Do we need to go get him? Do we need to go right now?” (referencing whether or not they should go kidnap Steven)
Jacob : “It’s Bacon Ridge.” (telling Chris how to get to Sister Robinson’s apartment in ‘BEACON Ridge’)
The Girls : “Ozark; Private Rooms; et al.” (sheer hilarity that the boys never did figure out what we were talking about … though they tried …)
Chris : “Yeah … I still can’t eat banana cereal …” (referencing the unfortunate consequences of his banana cereal consumption)
Stacy : “Spifferland” (while playing Swat)
Sister Robinson : THE Tent Comment
Tamra : “He got on the pool table …” (describing in detail, ‘the night we all got covered in mud’ and it’s star, Jacob)
Jaime : “Now THIS is the way to sit when you’re gos’pin’.” (after he asked Chris and Jacob if they had any stories to tell, and they all got excited and readjusted themselves in their chairs, preparing for a serious gossip-gab-fest)
Sister Robinson : “If you don’t have anything nice to say … come sit by me.”
Jaime, Jacob : “Nooo … YEEES!”
Sister Robinson : The Fidel Said ‘I thought we all belonged to the same church’ Story
Jaime : “She can read a book or something.” (referencing that Fidel could leave his wife for 2 minutes and come by … which he did.)
Jaime, Jacob, Chris : The Wedgie Stories
Crystal : First Time Swatter
Chris : “Did it come out your nose?" (questioning where Stacy’s spewed Sunkist came from … and yes, it was from her nose)
Stacy, Chris : “Umm … I think vomit is worse than Sunkist.” | “Oh … yeah.” (in response to Chris’ ‘nose’ comment … referencing, ‘the Six Flags incident’)
Stacy : “_____ _____ made him sick.” (referencing ‘the Six Flags incident’)
Jaime : “He was masochist.” (meaning, ‘massaging’)
Stacy, Kira : “Well, tell us w.h.y you were kicked out … ‘cause that might change if we’re still sorry for you, or not.” | “Ab-so-lut-ely.” (in response to Chris’ ‘I camped out for a week, does that count?’ story)
Chris : “Do you remember when Chris Madsen fell asleep on the bucket?”
Kira : “Nice save, Lyndsey.” (in response to the “Sh-hhhmmmmpppfff” ‘near miss’ while playing Swat)
Sister Robinson, Stacy : “Is that them?” | “Yes. I saw ‘Amigo’ on it.” (referencing the big yellow truck circling the parking lot, and suspecting that it was Jaime and/or Fidel)
Stacy : “All I saw was the ‘A’ and the ‘M’. Come on.” (when she found out it was “Amarillo” and not “Amigo”)
Stacy : “I know it’s the Mother Country, but give me break!” (referencing the “England, England!” shouts during Swat)
Jacob to The Girls : “You’re not giving them anything to look forward to.” (referencing Jaime and Chris’ single status)
Jaime, The Girls : “When women have kids they get boring.” | “Excuse me?”
... and so many, many more.
***
Sure, we were missing a few faces. We thought about them all. We called a few that had asked us to when we were all together. We treasure them all - and are already planning our next get-together.
I can’t begin to express how very grateful I am to know this troupe of folks. The memories that pass from mind to mind are priceless. Treasures beyond measure. I reflect on our times together and cannot help but smile. Even the hard times cannot overshadow the good. For that, I am thankful.
I am also thankful that we took the time, and made the point, to make this night happen. I hope we always find ourselves making the effort to be good friends. I hope we always find ourselves with warm hearts when we think of each other. Just like all those years ago ... I wouldn’t be who I am without them.
For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.
It's something unpredictable –
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
Lyrics: Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life); Green Day
