A Blast from the Past!
My BFF and I rang in the New Year early with girl’s night out. We went to see our all time ever favorite band; Nantucket, in Raleigh for their 35 year reunion show. We have been groupies for the same amount of time; embracing their first album in high school when their first hit, Heartbreaker, hit the charts. We are not big bar people, but as soon as we heard about the show we knew we had to go. We were there when the doors opened and ran into a friend from childhood, amazed that the two of us we were still hanging out together. Of course we are, we said proudly, we celebrate our 41st Friendiversary in February.
We went from playing house and kick the can, through summers at the pool, proms and double dating. Then it was off to college and the world of work and though our contact became less consistent, our connection continued to grow.
Though our lives have taken different directions, we remain best friends forever, consciously cultivating the connection that started with comparing cartwheels the day she moved in across the street.
We used to enjoy going out, listening to live music and partying into the night, but that was long ago. How did we do that, I wonder? I still remember planning a date after her first child was born and struggling to identify something we preferred to hanging out with her newborn baby. I can’t remember what we did but I do remember coming home early.
So, several decades, three bands and over three hours later Nantucket finally took the stage. We enjoyed ourselves, no doubt, but we were both a bit annoyed by the wait. The warm up bands were good, particularly one that included the son of Nantucket’s Eddie Blair. Seeing the father son duo jamming together on stage was pretty cool and I especially enjoyed the look of parental pride in Eddie’s eyes.
It was well after midnight when the show finally ended, and we headed to her house for snacks and a slumber party. Sleeping in my married Goddaughter’s room was really a blast from the past and almost made me feel old. But I decided not to, since I do have that choice.
Our past is the path that brought us to where we are today. Some moments more memorable than others and many we may choose to forget. We look back at the past through the lens we live in today, sometimes skewing certain details and their intensity. Life really is about the journey because once we reach our destination we set our sights on another one. Be sure to enjoy the journey because one day you will realize that these are the good old days and they will be a blast from the past.
