Friends

There were five us at table 40, the perfect table the way it was a bit secluded from the action of the rest of the restaurant.  Only one couldn't make it, and not because she didn't want to - she is the one I am probably closest too and has been one of my biggest supporters.  She just has a lot on her plate in life and last night didn't work out for her.  We'll get together one-on-one for lunch in the next week or two.

One brought me flowers.  Another bought appetizers for the table.  Another insisted on paying for the third bottle of wine even though I had told them the wine was my treat.  Really good conversation flowed freely as we celebrated life together.  We laughed.  We hugged.  And we stayed so long that we closed the place down.  A couple of them followed me back to my apartment when I offered a tour before we split ways.

I'm in awe of how far I have come in a year and how many amazing people have been walking alongside me through it all.  And last night's group of women aren't the only friendships I've been building.  I have another group of women from church and other individual friendships that are really dear to me.  

It blows my mind when I think about the very limited friendships I had over the first four plus decades of my life, how much I let my ex-husband be my social network for the last two decades.  I suppose there is a little grief at what I missed out on but until this past year I wasn't the person I needed to be in order to be receptive of these kinds of friendships.  These specific people also had not yet walked into my life.  So really I’m just incredibly grateful for the new life I’ve been given that is allowing me to connect on a deeper level with great people around me and the world as a whole.