Fond memories of friendships and school

I am going to share a personal journey with you all.

I hope it will help someone struggling through grief, through a tough journey they have undertaken, or even just a window into softening your heart.

It's the importance of family, of friendship, or travel, of reconnecting with your inner spirit and finding a sense of gratitude.

I hit the road alone. I am grateful for the understanding my husband had and knew that I needed to do this one on my own. I needed to be alone for awhile to accomplish the things I had set out in my heart to do. I will always be eternally grateful to him for all his love and support. I could not navigate my way through this without his love and support.

I began my journey reconnecting with friends. Trying very hard to just practice what I have been writing about...being Present...being open and taking in all that is being given...Relaxing and calming my heart.

I started in Omaha, staying with my friends and chosen family Kim and Anthony and their amazing daughter, Stella. It is always so nice to be back home in Omaha. These three have become our family over the years and we have shared so much...the ups and downs...the hurts...the laughter. They are always there for Justin and I when we needed them most.

Here's what I love about friendships like these...no matter how long you have been apart, it is like you have never been apart. You pick up right where you left off and move forward from there. Sure life has changed and moved forward without your daily interaction. That is to be expected. But it is the sign of a true friendship when you are able to pick right up where you left off and laugh and cry and enjoy the times together.

This became a common theme for the beginning of my journey.

I left early in the morning and began my trek northward away from Omaha toward North Dakota. I knew that the journey ahead would be difficult for me emotionally. How could it not be? But there were glimmers of light throughout that made the difficult times that much more bearable. The music sound track I had created was vast and thoughtful and filled with tunes important to me, my Mom, and to the idea of "rocking out" as I drive forward to an adventure of memories.

I arrived in Bismarck, North Dakota...site of all of my schooling...elementary, junior high, and high school. I had come to get reconnected to my high school choir buddies but to also be back in a town I shared so many wonderful memories in. I was quick to realize how quickly everything had grown and changed and evolved. It was crazy how much the city had grown past the limits I had remembered it having. Was fun and so jarring to see.

The first night we were there, Moni, Jen and I put the top down on Mom's convertible and we drove around Bismarck to see how much it had changed. We found old haunting spots, heading to the ole Capitol grounds to take goofy pictures. We actually drug Main, and went to Big Boy for a chocolate shake, a pizza burger flying style, and a Hot-n-Tot and more.

I had the tunes on, but these friends were finally together to reconnect and share their lives up to that point. The sky was beautiful. The night was perfect. We couldn't ask for more.

The next day, Moni took us to the elementary school Moni and I had gone to. It was crazy how much of it had stayed the same. The memories of first grade with Mrs. Jacobs, Mrs. Simek and how much of an impact she had made on my life by giving me the courage to focus on the talents God had given me. Eating in the cafeteria downstairs...yes the tables were EXACTLY the same ones we had.

The downstairs gym where we all gathered our sixth grade year to take our school year pictures...oh and to receive our awkward sex education videos...separately...boys first... and then the girls...those dang videos were SOOOOOOOO awkward...crazy film projector kind.

We went upstairs to our sixth grade classroom..and I truly think that this was where Moni and I had the strongest year of our elementary years together, in the classroom of Barb Evanson and Rita Klemin. These two women taught us the importance of knowledge but also refocused us on how important each of us were to each other and to ourselves... "I am THUMBODY. I am important. I matter."

Barb gave us a strong sense of self-worth and a place to belong and I have never forgotten how wonderful she was to have as a teacher. She is one of those teachers I have stayed in touch with each Christmas and have said numerous times that I pattern my own teaching style after her, among others.

We then had a gathering together of old high school choir buddies...a reunion of sorts...and it was WONDERFUL to see old friends and here again, pick up where we had left off. We shared fond memories. We laughed. We cried. We shared stories each of us had somehow forgotten and it was glorious. We reveled in each other's lives and how much we had changed and yet hadn't. Isn't that funny how that is?

"How is it that each of us is in our forties, and yet we feel like we are all in our twenties?"

How true. We each have lived so much life apart and yet it was our beginnings, our stories when we first started that we all reconnected with. It was beautlful.

We laughed at the stories.

We went onto the stage where we all shared our souls for the first time.

We saw how things have changed and yet how other things...other traditions had stayed the same.

It was like time had not passed and yet it had but it was all okay.

We had grown. We had moved forward, but had never forgotten the bond each of us shared.

It was music.

It was theater.

It was glorious and something we would never forget.

It was late night coffee drinking sessions at the local Perkins.

It was loving every moment together, remembering our past and reveling in our futures.

It did my heart so good to be together with these friends. I am, and will be, forever grateful for the memories, for the laughter, for the tears shared, and for their never-ending friendship.

I got up early the next morning and headed west.