It’s been a lot of days here in Tucson, just me and the cat and my visits to Aunt June. I am a card-carrying introvert who usually yearns for more time alone no matter how quiet my life is on a daily basis. Yet, by day 12 even I was wondering if the rest of the world was still out there.
And then I was gifted one of those wonderful surprises on Friday evening in the form of an invitation from a neighbor to join her for dinner. We had met only once before, in July, and for about 3 minutes. What an incredible kindness to consider my 2 weeks here alone and to invite me into her busy life.
The evening grew to include Jennifer, the neighbor, a professional geologist much younger than me and a friend of hers from the U of AZ, and a friend of June and Patrick’s, Rebecca visiting from CA. I walked through the cactus hedge to Jennifer’s home where the 4 of us enjoyed cocktails and never left our positions standing in the kitchen while we discussed a lengthy list of topics as if we were all old friends.
It always touches me that women are able to bond so quickly and with such depth. In the first 90 minutes we discussed topics from careers to food, countries we’ve visited and those yet on our list, houses and spouses, cats and colleges.
By the time we moved to a local southwestern restaurant for dinner I am certain we looked like any 4 "best friends" out for dinner – enjoying classic margaritas and carne seca and each other’s company.
I recall nearly 10 years ago participating in the "croning ceremony" of one of my dearest friends as she turned 50 and she spoke about the role of women in her life – from her mother to her daughter to all those who had joined her life throughout the years. She made an observation then that even if we have a strong and supportive relationship with a man in our lives, it is the women who pull us through, who have the most impact on who we grow to be.
There is something about the kindness and sharing of these 3 women that has brought me back into touch with this reality – we are each other’s support systems…and no kindness is without value.
And, tonight we are having dinner together again – as if we were real friends. 🙂