familia
July 05, 2003
mountain mama
I'm in the mountains in South Carolina right now. Yes, South Carolina has mountains… or at least one, the one I'm on… in Cleveland, SC… just over the border from Brevard, NC at what I imagine must be the tail end of the Blue Ridge. A group of my friends from college and I have gotten together every year for the last eleven or so years… not always here, but many times for weddings… and if no one is getting married, then just a reunion somewhere. This mountain house will hopefully be our spot at least every other year for the forseeable future, and maybe we can add a west coast venue on the off years. Most of us have known each other now for going on 15 years… which is a long time when you're 33. We've gone from being single to married to parents… chosen different paths and careers… live all over the country with exactly zero overlap (sadly)… and yet the same things we saw in each other 15 years ago still spark in us today… with the care and feeding of an occassional email or phone call, and these yearly meetings. In a world that encourages us to be guarded most of the time, with these people I am open… and with these people I laugh more than I do with anyone else outside my immediate family. Laughter is a good thing.