Let’s flash back a decade (Wow – typing that made me feel super old!), I was nine years old and loving the third grade. Our family was living on Gambrill Ct. in Northern Virginia and down the street lived the Krafts, some very good family friends. Looking back, it seemed we did everything together like one big family – we rode to school, went to football games, and played out in the back together.
Even though I was a girl scout by uniform, I was always more of a boy scout. I tended to go to the weekly meetings at their house in the cul-de-sac on a pretty regular basis, enough to the point where I could pitch a tent faster than you can say “Be Prepared”. But what I do remember of my glorious girl scout days is singing “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old…” in part of our meetings. It truly is important to stay in touch with old pals while constantly trying to make new friendships.
Just the other night I was once again reunited with the same childhood family friends in Coronado. The Kraft’s had recently flown in from Chesapeake, VA back to California where they had previously lived for a vacation. The once San Diego Padre family (now Washington National fans to my dismay) was sitting on all sides of me and it seemed like it was just yesterday on Gambrill Court. While at dinner we reminisced of the “good ole days” where my sister and I would try to hang with the boys – and damn right we did. We would play war out in the back and even dressed up in boys clothes because we had ruined everything else we had.
And although years had past since our families had been together, everything took off right where we had left it. Anton was still the responsible one (currently in VA because he was responsibly working instead of hanging with us), Colton was still the quiet one in the corner cracking jokes, Lolita was the same loving and welcoming second mother and Andy, was still the same old rambunctious sports fanatic (minus being a Nats fan- still not cool).
Less than a couple of years ago my Dad and I had visited the Kraft’s and a few other family friends on one of my recruiting visits back East. It was amazing to see how close of bonds we still shared and how easy it was to pick up where we had left off when I had moved only a decade earlier (though I think FB has a lot to do with it). I think when you can stop by out of the blue and feel completely at home is when you’ve found some quality pals.
Over the past week we’ve shared more laughs than I think I can handle, more Mexican food than is good for me, and met new friends for life. Here’s to many more years of friendship and many more memories to cherish – love you guys!