Friends

Lynn Walsh

Our Friend Has Died

It’s been almost two months since my friend Tommy fell to the floor at his friend’s house in Milton, Delaware and suffered a fatal heart attack. What began as a typical evening of socializing among these transplanted Delawareans turned deadly in a split second. Hardly the picture of health- Tommy was overweight, a smoker; nevertheless, no one expected death to strike so suddenly and violently. At age 63, Tommy was just a year older than me, making him my first contemporary to pass. And leaving me unsettled in ways I am trying to comprehend. Countless others have written volumes about death and loss and grief far more eloquently than I, and yet the questions remain. How do we get past the grief: mine, ours, Janet’s? I tell myself what I tell my suffering patients: There is no way around grief, only through it. Navigating this level of loss means something different to every person experiencing it. For me, I will begin by remembering Tommy, his antics, and his goodness, and I will say his name. I will remind myself and Janet that grief is not linear, nor is it predictable. It is indiscriminate in its assaults. ...
Exploding heart

It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart

This article, It's Your Friends Who Break Your Heart by Jennifer Senior from The Atlantic  with the tag line...."The older we get, the more we need our friends—and the harder it is to keep them," was recommended to me by a dear friend. We often talk about friendship and how important it is at our age and how these past 2 years have been especially challenging on friendships.  Please read this piece or listen to it all the way to the end.  I am betting every single one of you will find this totally relatable at some point in the piece. It gets even better as Jennifer Senior breaks down the different categories of friendships.  Her writing is spectacular. And this is where it begins.... "It is an insolent cliché, almost, to note that our culture lacks the proper script for ending friendships. We have no rituals to observe, no paperwork to do, no boilerplate dialogue to crib from....
Nightrose PJs

PJ’s, Girlfriends and Sleep Overs

“Deb, You want to do a home to home?”

“Love to."

“Really, seriously?”

My feet start twitching and I am out of my chair -- I’m so excited.

I am suddenly 12 years old again, and a little giddy with the idea. That beastly Covid has ruined our annual sleepovers for too long. 

Like a rebellious pre-teen, we feel courageous and agree to a date.

I had been at her place last time, so we were going to start this round at my place. It was my turn now.

I wanted to get her something special to commemorate the sleepover re-launch.  My British friend had told me about these amazing PJ’s and so I went on-line to check them out. They were fabulous looking and frankly looked a little British. 

...
Meeting in Person

BA50 Bloggers: Meeting in Person Is the Best

The very first BA50 Blogger Meet-up in Person. "A lunch invitation turned into an overnight plan. Each of us was going to be driving at least two hours. Why not make a mini-vacation of it? Ellen did the hotel Googling and we made reservations for an overnight, Thursday into Friday, at the Hotel Northampton. Our own rooms. At 60+ we’re big girls and don’t need to share a room anymore. A flurry of texts were exchanged. What time are you getting there? What are you packing? Drinks first, then dinner? We were as giddy as high school friends going away on their first vacation without parents. Only… have I mentioned we had never met each other in person before?"...
Kirk and Spock

What’s Your Playbook Look Like During Lockdown on Your Starship Enterprise

I never wanted to be on Starship Enterprise when Captain Kirk looked over to Spock and said, "We are going into lockdown." The magical sliding doors would seal and the Captain's Deck would be contained. And we would spend the next 30 minutes watching anxiously what was going to happen during this containment. I'm not sure who is playing Captain Kirk, I think we tend to switch off, on our Starship America 2020, my husband may not agree with that assessment. He and I are refining our skills in the cockpit of our lives. And we are creating daily routines on our Starship America 2020 during our containment....