Life Among the Loons

The Girls Are Together Again March 10, 2009

This weekend S and I traveled to Lafayette in order to attend my college roommate’s baby shower.  Darla and I were as close as sisters during our time together at Northeast Louisiana University and in the years that followed; I think some people considered us one person because where one went the other was sure to follow :).  In fact, she was in the delivery room when S was born and had the bruises on her hand to show for it!  After I graduated from McNeese State University in 1999, S and I  moved to Lafayette and it was a given that we would share an apartment with Darla.  Despite our many difference, I was happy in Lafayette and happy with our living arrangements. 

Eventually S and I moved to Houston and life presented circumstances that pulled Darla and me apart.  We spoke once or twice a year and exchange cards on birthdays and Christmas but the close relationship faded.   Before last weekend, she hadn’t seen S in at least 5 years. 

This visit was one of the best we’ve had in many years.  After the shower, S and I visited Darla at her home.  We sat in her living and talked for hours.  It was very much a repeat of the past but different –better — becasue S was an active part of the conversation.  She was able to connect with Aunt Darla and form her own opinions about a shadowy figure in her memory.  Darla was amazing in her ability to pull S into the conversation; if that’s any indication of the future I know she will be a wonderful and caring mom.

There was a taste of bittersweetness to the trip.  I saw Darla interacting with her “new” friends and it was clear to me that she has found new  close friends to fill my place.  I don’t know why it stung my heart — I have made close friends here in Houston, too.  I guess I just always referred to her as “my best friend” and now I see that isn’t the case.  I know we will always have a connection, but I suppose a part of me misses the way things used to be.  I have hope that this visit is the first step in reconnecting our separate lives.