Time Capsule

Way back in 1984, just a year out of high school, my girlfriends and I rented a house down the Cape...(don't you just love the plastic white earrings and my see through pink mesh 80's top?)...

One night, I suppose out of boredom, we decided to write future predictions for each other and ourselves.  We sealed it in an envelope and gave it to one of the trusted ones who we knew wouldn't misplace it (Michele). Then in 1994, we opened it and had lots of laughs and great memories of that vacation together. Then we wrote another one for the year 2004.  We opened that one at Christine's house.  Here's a picture from that night (missing Anne)...

It's crazy how much changes in ten years time.  I was pregnant in that picture and didn't even know what the sex of the baby was yet.  And here it is now...ten years later...and I couldn't imagine life without my Gianna Mae.  I was hopeful that my family would all still be here...healthy...but my Dad has passed.  Michele had breast cancer but is thankfully healthy today.  She is also divorced.  Anne got divorced too.  Both of Christine's parents have passed away and so has Patty's father.  But lots of really good things have happened to all of us since then too. Gianna was born, we've been raising 16 kids between all of us, there's been new jobs, career moves, high school and college graduations.

So this past weekend it was time to open up that time capsule and write a new one for 2024.  We tried to keep it upbeat this time and not "predict" too many things.  It's funny how when you are 19 and just the thought of being 29 is just too much to even imagine because you think it's "so old"!  And then when we reached that age we thought 39 was ancient!!  And here we are at 49 writing to ourselves at 59.  It was very emotional this time.  There were some tears.  Not really for us to be ten years older...more because our children will be aging...and for our parents that are left who are aging. I think we are even starting to wonder if we'll all still be here in ten years. Yikes!

We are very lucky to still have these friendships.  I've been friends with these women for 35 years!  That's just crazy.  Some of us don't see each other often but it's as if no time has passed when we get together.  We share a bond that is very special.  We all know where we came from.  We know each other's families, our childhood homes, old boyfriends, ex-husbands, we've been to each others weddings, baby christenings, we've been there for divorces and sadly some funerals.  But I know this group of ours will always be together...even if it's only in spirit.  I love these women. They share a piece of my past and my future too.

Here's to the next ten years...when Nicholas will be 23, Julia 22 and Gianna 19. See?  Like I said...crazy!!