You know the bouts of sadness you experience after a much looked forward to event has taken place? You spend hours, days, months looking forward to something: a concert, a vacation, a visit from friends/family etc. And then, in the blink of an eye, it's over. And all you have are the fading memories...P.E.D.D.
After this weekend, I am expriencing it. I was able to go down to the Philly area and see several friends whom I had not seen in a very long time. I packed up the kids and myself and headed down Friday afternoon to stay with my sister who lives in the area. It was great to spend some time with her and her husband and the kids got to play with their cousins, which is always great fun for them.
Saturday I left the kids and went out to a baby shower, the event which was the impetus for the whole weekend. My friend, Nancy, whom I shared many a class, lab, and study session with in college is pregnant with her first baby and I was so excited when I received an invitation to her shower. When I realized it would be down the road from where my sister lives, I decided that I had to try and get there. Not only was it near my sister's but also near my old high school stomping grounds.
Now, I have been 'on' Facebook for several months and through that got back in touch with several of my friends from high school whom I had not seen since my wedding and some not since graduation. When I knew I was going down for the shower, I made plans for a reunion of sorts. It worked out perfectly!
After getting to surprise Nancy at her shower (she didn't know I was coming) and spending some precious few moments with her, I met said high school friends for dinner at a nearby restaurant. We had a blast catching up with the last 10+ years. It was amazing that it was like no time had passed. Yes, of course we'd all changed and lots of things had happened to us in the mean time that we had to talk about but we were all still the same. And the years-long separation did nothing to the bonds of friendship that we shared.
I am so happy for the opportunity to see each one of those precious friends but now I am sad. Not only is the long-planned-for event over and I am back home and back into the daily grind but now I miss my friends. I didn't realize until I saw them again how much I missed having them in my life. I find it's not a bad feeling though. It is a very human feeling...a reminder that relationship is what we were created for.
And of course, being back home with my much-missed husband goes a long way to dispelling the feeling of loss as I can share those memories of my past with my ever-present and future love.
Me and Nancy with her cute pregnant belly!
Me, Ben, Heidi, Joy, and Lisa