Best Friends Forever

Russ and I woke up at my friend’s Karen and Nicks House and are going to bed at Suzanne and Steve’s. Nothing makes me happier than being with my oldest and dearest friends.

As Karen is giving us breakfast she pulls out a copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends and shows me the inscription on fly leaf. “Dear Honey, …. Love Dana, Forever a shadow.” I had given her this book, probably upon our graduation from high school and wrote a sweet note. The “forever a shadow” part refers to the nickname our small group of friends, Nancy, Karen, Anne and I called ourselves. I had forgotten I used to call Kar Honey. It brought back lots of happy memories.

After the sweet send off from Kar and Nick we drove ten minutes up the road to Suzanne and Steve’s. This is our bonus visit with them because Grace, the bride, was still with them and their youngest son Oliver, who just graduated from college is too. We had planned a post wedding time to be together to rehash and relive everything about the wedding. While we were at it, we told many old stories and even some new ones everyone had not heard.

Steve and Oliver took Russ into Portsmouth so they could work in Steve’s office. That left Suzanne, Grace and I time to gab and eventually go on a little lunch adventure to the most charming New Castle Island. We went to what Suzanne called the “downtown” of New Castle. That was a church, post office and this tiny four table cafe called the Islander. It was a sister cafe of Lil’s a favorite in Kittery and was yummy.

I adore getting to spend time with Suzanne and Grace together because, first it’s rare these days as Grace is an 80 hour a week career person and I am just not near them geographically. When I am with them it is like we have never been apart. Grace and Suzanne are a wonderful loving, but also fun together, mother-daughter duo and we can talk about any and everything. It would have only been better if Carter was also there with us.

After lunch Grace had to go and Suzanne and I went to Pick up Oliver and the three of us did what Oliver loves to do with me, go to the game store and get some new games. This could only have been made better if Jack was with us, as Jack and Oliver and I love nothing more than to play games together. Jack still talks about me beating him at monopoly when he was eight and teaching strategy on how to win.

We came back to the house and Russ and Steve came home and there was a rotating group of four of the six of us at all times telling stories while another two took a nap. For the record, I was never one of the rotating nappers, meaning I was always in the story circle.

Tonight we went to their next door Neighbors, Jane and Jerry’s for drinks before going to their club for dinner. Jane and Jerry are the worlds best neighbors. They have become like family to the Farley’s and it was such a pleasure to get to know them.

We came home to our dogs waiting at the front door for us. Suzanne really wanted to know what the dogs had talked about while we were gone. She imagined it went something like this, “My mom went to Dickinson college.”

“My mom went to Dickinson College too.”

“We must be related.”

Dogs are always right.