Past Lives

As of this August, I will have lived in Portland exactly half of my life - 18 years. The 2 years I lived in Minnesota I was too young to remember, and the 16 years I spent in Colorado seem a lifetime ago. But I have always been good at keeping in touch. I still keep up with my middle school social studies teacher and my high school English and dance teachers. I still know where all but 2 of my close high school friends are (Lori and Asha, where are you?). Oh the places we'll go? Here's where we went:

* Lisa is a naturopathic doctor living in Australia with her husband and 2 kids.
* Lydia is a nurse living in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, where she's finally settled down and bought a house with her partner and dog.
* Jim has been fighting the good fight as a teacher and now an administrator for my old school district, Cherry Creek, in Aurora, Colorado.
* Matt is making wonderful music in Asheville, North Carolina.
* Angi is a doctor living in Durham, North Carolina with her husband and son.
* Kirstin is also a doctor living in Denver, Colorado.
* Marcelle lives in Westminster, Colorado with her husband and dogs, though I'm not sure what wonderful worldly things she's doing with her talents these days (time to catch up!).
* Andy is a fashion designer in New York City.
* Laurel is a supermom in Erie, Colorado.

Here is me with Lisa, Jim, Matt, and Lydia around Christmas 2000 (I think). It was the first time we were all in the same place since high school, and it hasn't happened since (maybe at the 20 year reunion in 2010?).


Also seeming light years ago is my life before Thomas, and even more so my life before children. We knew that having children would mean we would probably see less of our friends without kids, and that has definitely been the case. We've built an amazing family of friends here in Portland, from the days of the Schiller House and Monday night dinners (back in 1992), to our post-Reed days on 32nd Avenue (1997) and 10th Avenue (2000), to our friends-with-lots-of-parents days now here on 57th Avenue. We have an enormous circle of friends after 18 years here, and we do think of all of you often, even if we don't see you as much as we used to or we'd like to.

Somehow, even having several good friends who are stay-at-home mothers, most of my adult interaction these days is limited to a few minutes talking to Elliot's teachers or other parents at drop-off and pick-up times and conversations with the cashiers at the grocery store who coo at Imogen. Even Thomas and I have a hard time trying to have a real conversation when one of the kids isn't requiring our attention (thank goodness for that date to see the new Narnia movie - it was great! The movie and the date, of course.).

So I'm glad it's almost summer. It seems like we all hole up for the winter here in Portland, and summer brings us back together to hang out while the kids play in the yard. Elliot is happiest outdoors, and we spend pretty much every afternoon of summer in the backyard with the trampoline, chickens, and wading pool. So here is my open invitation to my community - come hang out with us anytime! Though it can sometimes be hard to pull ourselves out of our busy, self-and-family-oriented lives, I know we could use the company! I must always remind myself that it does take a village, and the reason we've been in Portland for so many years is because we value the community we've found here. Time to make good on those promises to keep in touch!