It was inevitable.  The first of my daughters friends have gotten married.   Two weddings in two weekends.  As she and her friends graduate from college and begin their careers, the next obvious step for them is marriage and family.

This weekend, I had the pleasure of witnessing one of her friends getting married.  This wedding wasn’t just one of the first, it was actually special to me for other reasons.  That is because this bride was special to ME.

My daughter became friends with the bride back in junior high school.   They were both part of this large group of friends that hung out with each other over the years.  These friends, both guys and gals, spent many happy times together.  They always seemed to move in a pack.  Every school play, school dance, school sports event, whatever the occasion…they hung out together through it all…always remaining the closest of friends.  Even as they separated to attend different colleges, they always managed to keep in close contact.

So, from this large circle of friends why is the bride so special?  That is easy.  We developed a special relationship early on.   I remember many times when she came to the house to visit with my daughter, that we would get into the best conversations.  She was never afraid to talk to me about what was on her mind.   She accompanied us on many shopping excursions, and even joined our family for my daughters high school graduation trip to Hawaii.  I knew that visiting Hawaii was a dream of hers, so it made perfect sense to ask her join us on this celebratory trip.

I clearly remember the day when she called and wanted to drop by.  She had been living on the other side of our state, attending college, but she had someone that she wanted me to meet.   Wow…this was new.   It was easy to see how much they cared about each other, and it was clear what a wonderful young man her beau was.  I knew immediately that “this was it”.

As I arrived at the wedding location, I saw her Mom, who told me to go visit with her as she was waiting for the ceremony to begin.  As I walked into the room, I took one look at this young girl who was definitely all grown up now…and I immediately burst into tears.  Of course, every bride is beautiful on her wedding day, but she was stunning!   All those years of watching her grow into this beautiful young woman, listening to her dreams, sharing her hopes…I knew that this was right.  This was the beginning of her future…of their story.

Congratulations to the beautiful couple.  I am so happy for you, and love you both dearly!

My son is now a young man, looking to find his way in this world.  He is seeking gainful employment, with his eyes on the prize.  The prize is moving out on his own.  I’m excited for him…anxious to see him grow…eager to see what path he takes in life.  With all that said….I will miss him when he leaves home.  I will miss how he:

• goes to the grocery store for me
• picks up my mail
• makes me laugh every day
• bonds with our puppy
• talks geek with me
• shares his love of music
• is my in-house tech guy
• cracks me up with his sense of humor
• rolls his eyes at me when I’m being too much of a “Mom”
• fixes the broken faucets
• updates my computers
• makes me laugh out loud
• shares his passion for computers and hardware
• he is willing to have great conversations with me on random topics

I could go on, but I won’t.  Sure, it is nice to have my own little handy man around, but I will miss his sense of humor and his conversations about his life passions the most.   I am always amazed when we get into the indepth conversations.  He has such a depth of understanding on social issues, political topics, and when he is excited about a topic…stand back.  The boy knows his stuff.  When I ask him how he knows so much about the subject, he just looks at me like “Duh…I research and look things up.”

Yep, I will miss him.   Shhh…don’t tell.

Today I experienced a rare treat.   Two friends, that I hadn’t seen in ten years were in town this weekend.  These are friends that I met back in 1982.  You do the math!   We had met when we were all young, newly married, and full of energy.   We laughed together, partied together, supported each other, picked on each other, worked out together, and traveled all over the state of Washington participating in foot races and triathlons.  What great times we had!

As things go, they moved a couple hours away, we all started families, got involved in careers that demanded our attention, and we lost touch.   Social Media has brought us back together as we are now following each other on Facebook.  The Facebook email that I received this past week was read with excitement.  “We are coming to town! Let’s get together!”     Woo Hoo!!  We quickly made arrangements to meet at a local Starbucks to catch up.

What fun it was to reminisce,  catch up on our lives, compare notes on what it is like today to raise teenagers, and laughed at our successes and shortcomings as parents.  I didn’t realize how much I had missed them.

They really cracked me up when they reminded me of a time years ago when we were on the phone together and my daughter wanted my attention.   We both had home based businesses and I was trying to teach my daughter how to be patient when Mom was on the phone with clients.  My friend recalls my comments to my daughter when she interrupted our phone conversation.  I vaguely remember this, and imagine that it is accurate, when she recounted my words to my daughter…

“Are you on fire?  Is anything broken?  Are you dying? If not, you can wait. “

Oh heavens!  Did I really?  Yep…I’m afraid so.   I’m sure that I will find out in another ten years about how I damaged my childrens psychies when they were growing up.   Perhaps they will point to instances like this as their evidence.  My daughter reads this blog, so I will be interested to know if she remembers this as well.

I had a wonderful time hanging out today with such good friends.  Imagine my surprise when I got back in my car after the visit.  Looking down at my watch I realized that we had been chatting for FIVE hours.   Today’s visit was just like putting on a fabulous pair of shoes that you only wear for special occasions.   Good times.  Good friends.  I think I will wear this pair more often!