Baby Shower and Friends

My dear friends Kelly and LeAnn and Micah's friend from 8th grade Meghan held a baby shower in honor of the soon to be born Anderson Brooks today. It was so nice seeing Micah's friends and my friends and the great-grandmothers all together. We ooohhh-ed and aaahhh-ed over all the cute little boy clothes, blankets, burp cloths, and all the other great gifts he got. Micah's friend from birth, Lauren was there with her two sisters. I did the wedding flowers for her wedding a couple of years ago, now the younger sister is engaged and I'll be working on her September wedding this year. It's so exciting seeing these girls grow up and establish families of their own. It's special having these people in my life and in Micah's life. There will surely be many more babies in the next few years.
While we were talking around the food table my cousin whispered to me the reason her mother, "Granny K" wasn't herself today was because on Thursday her best friend died. They had been friends over fifty years. They talked every day like clockwork....seven p.m. they'd call each other and talk about life. I looked at my friend Terri, we've been friends since we were eleven. That's almost forty years...her granddaughter was born on my granddaughter's first birthday. We will be bonded for life. I imagine us old, talking on the phone. I can only feel sad for my aunt. I told her I was so sorry about the loss of her good friend. She just shook her head, still not able to talk about it. My aunt is in her late eighties, her friend was ninety-three. They didn't even meet until they were young mothers in the same neighborhood. They were the June Cleaver moms. I picture my aunt in her grass hopper Keds and smock she wore for gardening. She grew day lilies, kept a spotless house, insisted my cousin be involved in swim team and girl scouts. She and her friends ruled the world with smart straw hats and wooden spoons. I have two of her dresses from back then. I borrowed them for a sixties day and forgot to return them, I doubt she's given them much thought. I'm not sure why she even kept them. I didn't have the heart to tell her I wouldn't wear them because they weren't what all my friends were wearing to "Sixties Day"...poodle skirts and white blouses. I'm sure what my aunt loaned me was much more authentic. I picture her in the white cotton dress with green embroidery, smiling at the camera, her friend beside her leaning on a '66 Chevrolet Impala. I'm sure she would say those were the glory days, like Terri and I will say these days were for us. Fifty is not so bad when you think, Lord willing, we will be able to say we've been friends seventy years when we reach their age. Thankfully, we'll live on to be friends on the other side of this life too.