Friends
Me on my birthday in my Chef Jacket. Just yesterday, I think.
Every morning I try to write. Always pen on paper, three ring spiral binder; always free writing, never a plan. The words seldom leave the notebook, they are orphaned forever in the snarls of the spirals. But this morning was different and I decided to share what I wrote. In 2003, the year the picture above was taken, my birthday (the day the photo was taken) was on a Sunday, I was either cooking in the church or going to work at the restaurant after services. But that’s the church in the background so there is some relevance to this post, not a lot, but, hey, I do the best I can.
This morning I randomly picked a pen out of a large jar of pens to write my morning pages. The pen was engraved, well, maybe not engraved as much as imprinted, with “Ripley Prop Mgt.” Perfect, I thought. And then my mind took a leap…to the uninitiated, the pen might appear to be advertising a theatrical prop shop. Or, an ad for a cartoon of Garfield with lean-to planks. Or almost anything! (I can see the owner, president, CEO, et.al., of Ripley Prop Mgt giving me the side eye and a YGBSM look. She knows I’ll return the favor with a “Who me?” expression of astonishment.)
And I’m off. I jumped on the Way Back Machine and landed at Mt Vernon UMC in Alexandria, VA, sometime in the 90s. Over several years we ran into a group of like minded reprobates who somehow bonded and became friends. Very good friends, friends we spent 3-4 days a week with! Usually all of them! Every week. But, things change. Some of us moved. Some of us stayed. And some of us kept in touch.
I moved to Richmond, two folks to Southern California, two to Ohio, one to Tennessee and several stayed in Alexandria. Our group is pretty much coast-to-coast. But our “center” isn’t geographic, it’s one of friendship.
We don’t see each other often. Sometimes not for years. When we do get together, another cliche comes to life and we talk with one another as if it were just yesterday we saw each other last. Some of us talk on the phone. Some keep track on ancient Facebook. Four of us actually zoom every week or two to play virtual bridge!!
It’s been almost 20 years since we’ve all met in person, all at the same time. (And I think that gathering was at the Prop Mgt Central!!) So many moves, new adventures, COVID coping, new children, new grandchildren, sad losses, missed and received hugs, and on and on. Those people! I wished we lived closer, but maybe that’s why it works. No. It worked before the MV Diaspora. Who knows!
We have other friends from around the world who we connect with through social and normal media. And friends from all the places we’ve lived and worked. But there’s never been a group like the MV group. I’m lucky. We’re lucky. And that makes me smile.
Now, if I could only get that prop manager to handover the props so I can start the theater properly.