The Anatomy of Lifetime Friendship / Wareham Portrait Photographer

Today I’m feeling a bit nostalgic, I’m not sure why. Aside from it being throw-back Thursday, perhaps it’s partly due to the fact that I’m about to release my new website where I struggled writing an “about me” (but did it)! It starts with the words “I love memories…” of which I have many.  I think it’s also because today is the birthday of one of my lifelong friends. We share a lot of memories and it got me thinking about the evolution of friendship(s) and how rare and special this is.

There are 6 of us, we were all born in 1959 (yes, that’s right – not that long ago) within 5 months of one another and now today the last one joins the Fabulous Fifty-Five club. Two of us were born in January, one in March, one in April and the remaining two in May. Three of us share the same day, the 22^nd – January, March and May.

Some of us have been friends since kindergarten, some since first grade and then the pivotal moment when we all became friends was seventh grade. We’ve shared so much of this life together. Back then we spent tons of time with each other…I’d go to Debbi’s house for lunch across the street from school just a quick walk through the playground – we’d ice skate on the bogs in the winter. Chrissy and Cathy went to birthday parties together. We’d ride bikes to Jyl’s house or to the beach. As we got older we’d wait for JoJo to pick us up in her car. Jyl’s Dad let some of us drive his Audi before his own daughter even had her license! Chrissy had the coolest mustang that we all wanted to drive!

Together, we went to Brownies & Girl Scouts; some of us took dance lessons and acrobatics, ran track, played tennis and were cheerleaders. We worked at Angelos Supermarket or A&P or Dainty Maid (stores that are only a memory now). We’d sleep over each other’s houses (Cathy had the coolest bedroom) telling stories long into the night. We'd swim in Chrissy’s pool way after dark, go to parties and dance to Sly & the Family Stone - making more memories.

We graduated high school together and grew up. Some of us married, some went off to college. Some of us enjoyed our twenties carefree while some of us started to have children and embraced responsibility. One of us divorced and remarried, one became a widow in her late forties, one has been married for almost 37 years, one married her high school sweetheart and the other two have also been married for many years. Between us we have 12 children (with one set of twins) and 5 grandchildren. Through all this we have remained in each other’s lives for all these years celebrating good times and some sad times. 

It can be hard to make friends sometimes once you’re “grown up.” You find some work friends, socialize buddies but not always the one person you can count on kinda friend. But sometimes, I think it even harder to sustain a lifelong friendship between 6 women. A lot happens through the years…people come and go. Yet, there is something about this lifelong friendship that is comforting. Some of us see each other more often than others but we try to make a point for all of us to get together at least once a year. We all know that at any given moment we are there for each other…to pick each other up, cry with, laugh with, lend support in whatever way needed…just present for each other. We’re able to pick up right where we left off the last time…never missing a beat. We had dinners together, drank wine together, celebrated the start of summer with Memorial Day weekend cookouts together. We celebrated each other’s family’s births, deaths, children’s graduations, weddings and new careers.

We all feel fortunate and know that it is a very rare and special thing that we have – this lifelong friendship. We still are a part of each other’s history.

This Sunday we’ll all be coming together again to celebrate Chrissy’s son’s wedding. We’ll hug each other with arms open wide, telling each other “it’s so great to see you again – it’s been too long!” (Even though we did just have a slumber party in November.) I look forward to breaking bread, drinking wine and dancing the night away with my lifelong girlfriends celebrating one more moment in time that will soon become a very fond memory. We’ll raise a glass to toast the groom and his beautiful bride and then we’ll raise another to toast being lifelong friends in the Fabulous and Fifty-Five club.