Monday, November 5, 2007

Post for Anna

I wanted to do a post for Anna, who I saw yesterday for the first time in over four months, and to tell her how lovely it was to see her.

Yes, I admit, I was very, very tired yesterday, as I always am on Sunday afternoons, and there was a point, when I was sitting there with Pavel and Sasha, that I considered not going to the birthday party. But I also knew I really wanted to see Anna again, and that Sasha would enjoy jumping on larger-than-life trampolines, so I pulled myself up, drank an espresso and managed to make myself and my children look somewhat presentable.

The drive into town was stunning - one of the most exquisite fall days I have experienced in Colorado. The sun was spread over the fields so brilliantly that it seemed I could see every dust particle and tiny insect floating in its rays. I thought of Anna, and how the day was, in a way, a gift from her, as I would have stayed inside all day had I not gone into town to see her.

When I used the word "lovely" earlier, it seemed to me somewhat old-fashioned and formal, a word I had a preference for when writing to my Grandmother, but "lovely" is the only word which seems appropriate when I was describing how it was for me to see Anna, because this is exactly the word I would use to describe Anna - lovely.

Between ushering children on and off trampolines, looking for matches to light birthday candles (it was absolutely amazing to me that not one parent in the group smoked), and nursing Pavel, we actually didn't get to talk all that much, but it was enough to just be in her company - to hear her laugh, which I love, and watch her scurry to and fro snapping pictures. She is full of life.

When I got home, my husband asked me how the party was, and I told him how much I enjoyed myself. Yes, Anna is a very nice woman. I'm glad you're friends with her - you should see her more often. You know, friendship takes work.

Yes, it does. Friendship does take work. In our very hectic lives, friendships are the things we often move to the bottom of our lists because it doesn't have a due date, when it is the very thing we need most.

Sitting in the November sun, sipping wine and jumping from one subject to another like fireflies, this is where life is. Please forgive me, Anna, for forgetting this too often.

1 comment:

Anne-Marie said...

The one thing I do know about is how to keep a good friendship going - over years, over thousands of miles. The kind of relationship that is intertwined for eternity; that even if it is months, years or miles that inconvenience our getting together, with ease we catch up and carry on barely missing a beat - at least that is the way it feels for me. I love you, too!