Adventure #3 – Catching up with an old friend

Technically this adventure began a few months ago when Lisa found me on Facebook, but it wasn’t until a few days ago that we finally got to sit down and talk face to face again.  We met in 1993 and were close friends all through high school. We went to different schools and were a year apart, but because we dated each others friends we went to the same semi formals and proms. (Admittedly, I may have scared off one or two guys she had crushes on…ok, maybe 3 or 4…certainly not more than 5 or 6…)

When I headed off to college in 96 we still got to hang out on the occasional weekend that I was home, and I went to her prom with one of her friends, but life and distance kept pushing us further apart. The summer of 97 we tried to hang out more, but summer jobs and life in general kept getting in the way. When we headed off to our respective colleges in the fall we both just seemed too busy with everything going on in our own worlds to be able to keep in touch and just sort of drifted away. The last time I saw her was December of 98.

Well, the last time until now that is. Flash forward 11 years to last fall, when another friend I hadn’t seen in over a decade found me on Facebook. Kristin either stayed in touch with or had reconnected with a lot of the people we were friends with back then, and since she found me we’ve been catching up, hanging out and become great friends again. Lisa found me through Kristin, and we’ve been talking online and on the phone since, catching up on the past decade and the directions life has taken us. She lives in LA now, but comes back to MA to visit her family a couple of times a year, and we decided that on her next visit we had to sit down for a long overdue beer and catch up.

Last Thursday she landed at Logan for a week long visit. She, Kristin and I made plans to meet up at The Sunset Grill and Tap on Thursday night, and I admit that I was both excited and nervous to finally get to hang out again. A lot changes in 11 years. Sure we had started talking on the phone again a couple of months ago, but when we actually saw each other in person would it end up being one of those situations where you see someone you used to know and try to rekindle the friendship only to realize that you’ve both changed so much you no longer have anything in common and it just gets awkward? Kristin and I arrived first and were finally figuring out what to order for out first round (no small feat in a bar that has somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 kinds of beer) when Lisa and her brother arrived. There were several kind of awkward seconds with the whole “wow, I can’t believe we’re finally seeing each other again after all these years!” and then….

…right back into the old routine! Joking, teasing, easy conversation. Inside jokes and comments that would make no sense to anyone who didn’t hang out with us back in high school. We had a great time reminiscing and getting caught up, and made plans to get together a couple more times while she is out here.

We also finally had our first beer together, a toast more than a decade overdue.

Tags: Adventures