BIRTHDAY LUNCH

I love traditions.  They keep us connected to each other in an often chaotic and confusing world.  My very good friend, Sally, and I have known each other since we worked together at the Board of Realtors in 1976.  Not only were we together 8 hours every day, we also shared lunches and happy hours together.  We became best friends for life and a witness to each other to the many life altering changes we each have gone through.  We only worked together a couple years but have maintained our friendship through parties and get togethers that have unfortunately become few and far between, dwindling down to my Christmas party and our once a year birthday lunch.  My birthday is November 12 and Sally’s is December 5, and we have made it our tradition to get together on a day that falls between those dates.  Every year without fail, Sally calls and sings Happy Birthday to me in Bill Murray fashion (from his SNL days).  Then we set a date for our annual Olive Garden lunch where we share a couple hours of one on one time, catching up on all the events of our lives during the past year, the good, the bad and the ugly.  It always goes by way too fast, and when we part, it is bitter sweet because I know I will probably not see her until the following year.  I am so grateful, though, for this tradition and our friendship.