This I have just had, with a two week visit to my other home in Massachusetts. When you are an expat, living away from your nearest and dearest, your friends become your surrogate family. They are the ones who support you in times of crisis, or if your kids are driving you crazy! They are the ones who make meals when you have emergency surgery, and they are the ones that become as irreplaceable as your family. These friends are a touch stone of my life.
My time in MA was been filled with glorious weather, friend time and time on my favorite beaches, Wingaersheek and Cranes. Cranes was fun as I was surrounded by high school seniors killing time before graduation and I was entertained by young people wandering by in swimwear comparing cellulite....yeah, right!! Wingaersheek, seriously must be one of the most beautiful beaches ever, was quiet and peaceful . I was lucky to pick a "sandbar day" ~ when the tide is low at the right time of day you can walk out for hundreds of metres along a sand bar, with the river on one side and the ocean on the other, almost to Annisquam lighthouse. The sky and the ocean were cerulean blue and the sand sparkled with mica (or fairy dust, as Becky used to say) and the smile on my face said it all, as I remembered many happy times there, with my kids, Martin, my sisters and my expat friends.
Then there was a visit to Halibut Point and Rockport, a favorite haunt in the past, spent with a dear friend, and a lobster roll by the ocean, for lunch. Is there anything better than fresh lobster eaten with the scent of salt water surrounding you? As I wandered the streets in Rockport and reacquainted myself with Motif #1, I smiled as it was such a favorite of both my parents, and Martin's parents, when they came to visit....lovely reminiscences. There was a walk around Newburyport, and an introduction to Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, whilst my friend Melinda volunteered for three hours in the garden, and I wandered around taking photos and reading my book sat on a bench in the sunshine. Well, I didn't pack my gardening clothes!
A visit to the adorable town of Wolfeboro in New Hampshire to visit a friend's new home was a delight on a very hot and humid day that definitely started the whole vacation off with a sense of what was to come, regarding time with friends. My trip was built on the back of this friend's retirement party, as I wanted to share this special time with her. The party also gave me a chance to catch up with old Proctor friends, which is always fun. I particularly enjoyed the look of confusion on peoples faces, " Huh? I thought Jackie had left Proctor?"
The friend jar was filling up fast with dinners with old teacher friends, and a surprise re-connection with a friend who'd drifted away. Dinner in a favorite Mexican restaurant on my first evening in MA, with my two Fab Four members, on the way from the airport ended up with a chance meeting with Patti. It was so much fun to tap her on the shoulder and watch her face fill with surprise at seeing me! Pure luck, but we were meant to re-connect and spent one evening sat at dinner catching up with twelve months of news. A drink on the deck at Salem Landing with two good friends one evening was fun. Then there was coffee with a friend and delicious treats at the Topsfield Bakeshop. A walk on Cranes beach early one morning with dear friend Helen, gave us a smile as three lifeguards came running out of the mist, it was like a moment from BayWatch! I even exercised with a friend, with a good walk in the Bradley Palmer state park. My friends are from far and wide these days and a Romanian friend, who I met in NL and has now moved to Lincoln, MA was another friend meet-up. So weird to see her there living the life I led as a new arrival 17 years ago! A final meet-up of a different kind was the opportunity to say hello to one of Thom's high school friends, who happened to be home from Kenya for his sisters graduation. As I stood chatting to this well-travelled and accomplished young man I realized that he and Thom had graduated that very week, 11 years ago. Time flies it would seem.
My time spent with Mary is always a blessing, my "home from home." We get to chat before she leaves for school and when she gets home and she even trusted me with the care of her aging wonderful old dog, Midas, for a couple of nights. He was under strict instructions to play fair and remain upright and healthy on my watch. He did. Another benefit of hanging out with Mary is getting to enjoy her friends whilst hanging out at Salem Landing and experiencing what it's like to have grown up in Salem where literally "everyone knows your name"!
So my friendship jar is full for now! As the quote says, "Friends are like stars, you don't always see them but they are always there."
