LucyRicardo member for 20 weeks 6 days Send a message

Yesterday I spent some time on the phone with 2 of my favorite people. Both are friends that I've known since I was 13 or so. I don't live near either of them anymore and haven't in quite a while, but when we get on the phone its like we still see each other every day.

The 1st phone call yesterday was from an old theatre buddy, BR. We grew up in an extracurricular theatre program and when we weren't in shows together we were spending all weekend with our gang of theatre folks making noise wherever we went. (I didn't realize how loud we must have all been until I started directing youth theatre. I love how theatre kids love each other, but DAMN, you get a bunch of them in the same room and they are LOUD!)

BR is a couple of years older than me so he headed off to college first. However we remained close even when we weren't in the same town. After college we both ended up in LA at the same time and everything picked back up where we left off. I only lasted in LA a couple of years (great place to visit, but I don't know how people live there!) and headed back to TX. Still we were close.

Now I'm in Music City about to move to Chicago; he's in LA about to move to NYC. We only talk a couple of times a year, but yesterday, like every other phone call we have, was like we had just spoken the day before.

My 2nd phone call was from my official BFF, LaTeedah. (There's a link to her blog here. Check her and her cute family out.) I met her in Junior High (back when it was still Junior High and not Middle School!) and I must admit that we did not hit it off at first. I don't remember why I didn't like her; I just decided that I didn't. She claims that I started a rumor that her hair color came out of a bottle. I have no memory of this, but it's not outside the realm of possibility!

I don't remember exactly when we stopped hating each other but once we did we were inseparable! LaTeedah and I spent every waking moment either together or on the phone all through junior high and high school. And oh, the things we got into....

We were counselors at girl scout camp together. (What a god-awful job. And it was HOT! For 2 girls who considered shopping to be exercise, being in the Texas heat for an entire summer was not fun!)

We spent a semester in high school in a tennis class where we perfected the art of playing tennis SITTING DOWN! (I told you shopping was our exercise!)

We got tattooed together. She has since had hers removed, but I still wear mine with pride (and the occasional band-aid if I don't feel like explaining it.)

We single-handedly (okay, double-handedly) ensured that our senior class got a Skip Day by putting anonymous hand-made save the date cards in every senior's mailbox. (We were a class of almost 600. Talk about dedication!)

I was with her when she got her belly button pierced. (I had already had mine done.)

We were in each other's weddings.

The list goes on and on.

We went to different colleges and have not lived in the same town in more years than I care to count. We are both now married, she has 2 beautiful babies and we live halfway across the country from each other, but talking on the phone with her is like being 15 again.

I'm lucky.