I am Greatly Favored with Friends

It’s not often that one is blessed with friends that consistently are a joy to be around and talk with.  I am fortunate that I have three such people in my life at the moment, who never cease to bring joy, laughter and happiness to me.

When I moved to the Charlotte area in 2006 I became friends with a woman that worked with me at The Firm for a few years before we both got laid off within a couple months of each other.  We both kept in touch, and when a position came open at my next job in my very own department, I quickly got her in for an interview and she was hired, where we got to enjoy working side by side again for several years before I left The Company in December 2017.  We’ve kept in touch during that time, and I recently tried to poach her again and have her come work for my new company, but she opted to stay where she was.  After many months of not hanging out we got together last night for dinner.

Y’all – we sat in that restaurant for over three hours.  And during those three hours I spent most of my time laughing at her stories and just having a grand old time.  She’s one of those naturally funny women that doesn’t even need to try to be funny – she just IS.  We’ve decided we need to get together more often and are going to try and have dinner again in March – but this time including one of our other pals from our days at The Firm.  I can’t wait.

I also have another friend that I’ve talked about here on Cootiehog – I’ve known her for probably 25 years at least (maybe longer?).  LP is the niece of one of my mom’s friends at the time, and when she moved to Virginia from Texas, we struck up a friendship that has lasted for all that time.  We have vacationed together (Hawaii and New Orleans), can go months without talking and then immediately be in sync when we reconnect, and she is another one of those naturally funny women who can make me howl with laughter whenever we are together.  She and her husband still live in Virginia and whenever I go up there I try to make it a point to see her, even if it’s just catching a quick convo in the Wegmans deli near my sister’s house.

LP and her family came to Charlotte a few months ago for a football game at Panthers stadium in Charlotte, so we all got together for lunch with promises to hang out again soon.  That will happen in April, when I go up to DC with CootieGirl for our trip to England – we’ll be staying at my sister’s house on both sides of that trip, and I’ve already made plans to go to LP’s house for brunch on our way out of town.  Can’t wait!

Lastly, I have been thrilled that at my current job (I need to come up with a name for it now that it’s not new anymore… I’ll call it Company Inc.).  Anyway, at Company Inc. I’ve been very happy that I’ve formed such an immediate friendship with one of the other admins here, PD.  She’s another one of those women that is naturally funny, but with a thick Long Island accent.  Despite moving to Charlotte twenty years ago, she sounds like she just left the island yesterday.  Her accent is THICK.  And that’s partly what makes her funny – hearing her tell stories and feeling like I’m back up north again.

She and I are currently debating have a spa weekend this summer where we go away and just pamper ourselves for a weekend.  I found a place that looked really nice but it ended up being $400 a night and that did NOT include any spa services.  That’s kind of above our pay grade, so we’re continuing to hunt for something and if we find it, we’ll do a Friday-Sunday girl’s weekend.

But all that is to say that I do not have a lot of friends – really only a few.  I’ve always been that way, I suppose.  I know a *lot* of people, but other than group events where we all are going to be ANYway, I’m not really invited to do anything with 99% of the people I know.  To be brutally honest, I would see women I’m friends with posting on Facebook about going here to do that with those ladies, and going there to do that with those other ladies, and I’m sitting at home wondering why I’m never invited to go here or there.  The only time I hang out with some of those ladies is when Denis or I instigate an invitation to hang out in some capacity.  It used to hurt my feelings, but for the most part I let it roll past me now, because that’s just that way it has been since we moved here in 2006.**

But then I have dinner with LD, or chat with LP on Hangouts, or get a text message from PD and realize that it’s okay if I only rarely get invited by most of my friends to go do something fun.  Because these three ladies more than make up for it.

And they are greatly treasured.

** EDITED TO ADD:  Re-reading this post I feel as though I may sound harsh when talking about the other women in my sphere.  I do count them as friends – we have cried together, laughed together, gossiped together, and enjoyed each other’s company.  I am not discounting them AT ALL.  But I do stand by the opinion that many times they all hang out with each other – and post about it on Facebook – and I was not invited.  And I get it – you can’t invite everyone.  In fact, I feel guilty every November when talk of our annual White Elephant party gets going around people that I have not invited.  I’m sure they have their own moment of, “What am I, chopped liver?”  So I’m clearly on the GIVING end of that scenario as well as the receiver.  And that’s part of the reason why I no longer get upset when I see how my friends all get together and hang out without me.  Because on occasion I do the exact same thing.  So to any of my friends who may feel that I’m slighting them in any way, rest assured that is not the intent AT ALL.  I love all my friends!  And love hanging out with them when I do get an invitation.