Friends and Food

Yesterday evening, Carl and the girls and I were able to impromptu meet up with old friends for dinner. They live in California, and somehow whenever they come up this way our schedules never coincide enough for us to get together. Ethan was best man at our wedding (I threatened to make him be maid of honor if my sister couldn't make it home in time; told Carl I had prior claim since Ethan and I had been friends since we were eleven, and he and Carl had only been friends since they were eighteen); we watched his Californian wedding over live video feed when Grace was a newborn; I totally monopolized his wife Elizabeth last summer at a wedding reception up north; and when I heard they were going to be driving from Vermont to Lake Placid yesterday, I jumped at the chance to really get caught up.

We had the nicest time. Lots of talking, laughing, going through buckets of the complimentary bread (we left a hefty tip), sharing where we've been, where we are now, where we're still dreaming about going. That's one of the wonderful things about like-minded friends - even if you aren't going in the same direction, you can still strengthen each other's dreams with encouragement and hope. Carl told about his seminary plans; Ethan and Elizabeth talked about the partnership they're dreaming of forging together into a movie production company; I shared some of the tricky waters I've been navigating with the indie publishing world and trying to get any of my projects actually completed to the point where I can actually attempt publishing them. All different worlds, but all of us aiming high and trying to balance reality with dreams.

Plus Ethan and I got to talk a little about possible collaborations in the future - me writing scripts or screenplays for films he's producing. With dialogue being my strong point and my skills of description being so weak, that might be just the ticket for me! And as I'm finding with the picture book collaboration I've been working on with another friend, if one has the right sort of mindset, one really can blend work and friendship without too many problems.

It can get easy to feel alone, for both Carl and I. He has the quintessential "good American" job right now, and can't wait for the day when he can leave it behind to pursue seminary, and teaching, and possibly even moving across the world if that's where we're called. I am the stay-at-home-mom to our two kids, trying to homeschool and keep the household running smoothly, and every second of the day my fingers itch to leave behind these dishes and laundry and kindergarden math books and just write. We're oddballs in suburban America, and it's good for us to talk with like-minded friends and remember that we really aren't that weird or alone (or super special, as sometimes our ego inflates at how "different" we are - o hubris!), and that it is possible to pursue a life that colors outside the lines.

So, here's hoping that you, my friends, get a chance to have that same encouragement this week! And if that encouragement include dinner at an Italian bistro with excellent complimentary bread and a very patient wait staff, well, all the more power to you.