Being back home in Franklin has been an exercise in revisiting every emotion I can name. I wake up every morning and look out at the rolling foothills I have missed for 30 years. I can take my sweet Dora for a walk at the family farm where I can inhale the comforting and clean air. I also have bouts of "What was I thinking?" This is when I allow myself to wallow in the memories of my Connecticut life. My friends there. (Hi! I miss you!) My established life.
I moved to New York City in the Spring of 1982. Thirty years ago. I built a life on the East Coast. A
Big Life. And here, the life is not so big. Yet. But I am not the least bit stymied by this. I do have my moments of longing, but they are being eased by my reconnections here.
Ingelein and I became best friends when we were 9. We shared many
misadventures and great, fun times. A lot of these events will go to our graves with us because that's just the way it is with someone you've spent so much time doing so many things with. You know those Facebook sayings about best friends and how they will come burn your diaries if you die? That's how Ingelein and I were. Then I moved, and we both got on with our lives and raising our children. We kept up through Christmas cards and Happy Birthday's! But it's difficult.
We are now busy making up for lost time. And while she lives three hours away, she spends a lot of time here because her mother and a daughter are nearby. And this past Saturday, we all got together for an evening of good food, wine, dancing, and general frolicking in our finest duds at the
Heritage Ball. If you click on the link, you will see Ingelein's mother (89 year-old Inge Smith) dancing with her 'friend' Bill! "Miss Inge" was the Headmistress of our grammar school; I could write a book about that, but I digress.
Ingelein and Lauren
In 1977, if you do the math, that is 35 years ago, when we were seniors in high school, Ingelein and I were hostesses at this soiree.
We may have a few of those grave-taking stories from that night, but I'm not saying anything else about that one. We have both been back a handful of times since then, but not at the same time. Until Saturday. It was magical. It was one of the most beautiful parties I have ever been to, and I am still smiling. I was really home.
I am sitting here this morning, looking out at those hills, and I feel content. I miss parts of my Connecticut life, and at the same time, I feel more connected here each day as well. Life really is a journey, no?
