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Sunday, March 25, 2018

Savoring Time with a Lifetime Friend - #SOL18 - 3/25/18




**I'm so grateful to the #SOL community for welcoming me each and every time I post a slice. Thank you so very much to the team at Two Writing Teachers for coordinating and hosting this slicing community for the entire month of March for the Slice of Life Challenge. You all rock!!**

*During this year's challenge, my plan is to reflect on a slice of my life from that day, or the day before, and write about it. No theme to tie my writing together this year, no plans ahead of time.  Just glimpses into slices of my days. Not having a plan is a very uncomfortable place for me, both as a person and a writer, so fingers crossed for the 6 remaining days!


Like most writers, I tend to have "writing territories" - today's slice is about two of those - my lifetime friend, Lisa, and my writing. 
Lisa and I have been friends since freshman year (1973) at college when we lived in the same dorm, and pledged the same sorority. An argument could be made that I haven't known her my entire lifetime, but her importance in my life for the past 45 years is immeasurable and thus feels like I've known her my entire life. We were friends in college, then lost touch for about four years, but when I moved back to Ohio in 1981, she became more than just a "friend"; for so many reasons, she is my "family", and as such, there are many stories to be told in my life that include Lisa.

Since my retirement last May, Lisa and I have made a concerted effort to explore the city, and its surrounding areas, in which we live. That entails visiting and exploring a new part of the city each time we get together.

This past Friday, we visited uptown Westerville. We found so many great independently-owned shops there, both for browsing and buying. I found one store in particular that I loved - Ohio Art Market. So many great finds, and all the products made by Ohio artists. Beautiful things.

We finally made it to lunch at about the time many people were beginning to think about early happy hours. Another one of our goals on our excursions is to eat at a restaurant that is unique to that community. Several shop owners, and some customers as well, highly recommended Asteriks. They weren't wrong! The food was delectable, and if you ever have the opportunity to eat there, don't miss out on the fried cauliflower; it truly could have been a meal all by itself!

At some point Friday, we began to reflect back on all the parts of the city we have explored together. However, both of us being 60-somethings, we couldn't remember everything we'd done; not even if we just thought about the places we have visited since I retired last May. Yikes!

I came home that day and made a decision - these outings together are too precious. I needed to create a recording of these memories for us. So, I got out a journal, looked back at the calendar on my phone, and recreated the dates/places we've visited. I plan to backtrack and get a few things written about our adventures since May, but after this, I want to take it with me each time, and have both of us contribute some of our favorite memories from the day.

I'm just using a simple journal, but I can't decide what to to title it:

  • Lisa and Karen Do Columbus (nah... a little too Debbie Does Dallas)
  • Lisa and Karen (nah... a little too Thelma and Louise)
  • Lisa and Karen's Excellent Adventures (nah... a little too Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure)
  • Retirement Wanderings and Ramblings (might be in the running, but it's still too soon to settle)
Oh well... I'll leave it untitled for now, but I so look forward to much more exploring and time spent with my lifetime friend. And I look forward to recording it for posterity for our children to read and chuckle at someday. In the meantime, it will be the warehouse that stores our memories together.


6 comments:

  1. What a great idea. I have loved reflecting on the fact that I've done the Slice of Life for so many years - It is a fantastic repository for many memories. Good luck with the collection of memories and the title.

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  2. This is such a great idea, Karen! It's so important to save those memories.

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  3. So many great ideas here. First, I love that you are visiting a different part of the city each time you get together. That would be fun to do! Second, a new restaurant! Such a cool idea! My book club has been trying to do the new restaurant thing, and it's fun. Last month we went to a restaurant that is all decorated in school theme. And then I love that you are keeping track of it in a journal. Maybe the name is not as important as the doing. You could even do it online, if you wanted to.

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  5. What a beautiful way to record the time you spend with your lifelong friend. I have a friend with whom I went to primary school, lost contact with, then reconnected as adults. I call her my ‘newfound long-lost friend’. We eat a meal together each week in our small town and travel together as often as we can. You have inspired me to write about our adventures as well as the mundane, day to day activities so I will remember the times we share; like you, I forget many of the details if I don’t write them down. I also think this will influence me as a teacher. Practicing writing will give me material to draw on in the classroom as well as creating a record for myself. The idea behind Slice of Life is a low pressure way to record the little things in our lives that add up to big things. How many times have I heard students say, “I don’t have anything to write about”? They believe that unless something akin to an action movie happens to them, they don’t have anything worthwhile to write about. But you can write about anything. The small moments in our lives can be beautiful and meaningful. Taking time to explore them can promote gratitude as well as writing skills.

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  6. I think it is a great idea, because at the same time you reflect on an aspect as everyday as friendship, you also treat the passion for writing and know how to write your feelings. Something similar happened to me, for many years that I did not see a friend, and when I saw her again, it is like time has not passed. It is true that nowadays technologies make it a little easier to be in touch with people, but there’s still nothing like meeting with a friend.

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