To my high school friends - part 2

Seven* of us gathered at Sharon's beautiful Arizona home to celebrate our 50th birthdays in unison. We've known one another for over 35 years and in the case of Mary and me, who met in Mrs. Bodenshatz's kindergarten class, 45 years. That's a hell of a long time when you're as young-like as we are.
Through these years we have shared our joys and celebrations, our fears and disappointments, our loses and tragedies. We've shared the happiness of our graduations, weddings and babies and suffered through the failures, sicknesses and the funerals. We have shared our lives. We live in Greenwich, CT, Santa Cruz, CA and Homer, AK. We're teachers, nurses and dog mushers. We have traveled down different paths and if we met today we may not give each other much more than a nod. We've been mad at each other, disappointed and bewildered by each other but like a family, we plow through these times and continue to love one another. Thankfully, we all take the time and make the effort to gather and replenish this incredibly durable and cherished shared history. And for this, I am very thankful.

Hey! He wasn't invited.

Mary, me, Carol, Sharon, Dierdre and Mo. - Here we all are. *Well, almost all of us. Sadly, Chris bought her airline tickets for the wrong weekend and realized this terrible mistake the day before our gathering. Since Chris has 3 young kids including 2 year old twins, we can understand her confusion but we sorely missed her. Lorraine is missing from this picture because she's the photographer. Below, Mary is taking the shot. (We need a tri pod.)

Lorraine, me, Carol, Sharon, Dierdre and Mo.