Lunch Club...

I have been blessed enough in this life to have some really fantastic friends. And, I've never considered myself to be all that great at maintaining friendships, so for that I am even luckier. I'm not sure the secret to our success over the years...and we've had many a friendship bruised and broken...but we're still plugging along together. We were fledgling teachers once. The newbies. Fresh faced. Newly Engaged. Optimistic.

And now? Well...we're seasoned, or becoming so. Gray hair and fine lines play peek-a-boo. Marriages tested. Or broken.  Bodies changed by those little ones, who now steal the conversation. Collectively, we've sailed some rough waters. Divorce and debt. Miscarriages and military husbands. Cancer and cantankerous relatives. Infidelity and insecurity.


Despite all of that, we're cooler. Funnier. Smarter. And, dare I say, prettier. I think. There's a comfort there as we've let life sink in around us. We're not old, but we're not her any more. That fresh-faced newbie carrying a bridal magazine in a backpack. We're wearing the life we've earned.  And I prefer the experience to the blind ambition.

So what's the secret? Lunch. We break bread. Like any family, strong at the core, we eat together daily. For the last twelve plus years it has kept us together and kept us sane. We gather around the table, gnoshing on the latest creation of Lean Cuisine and talk. Sometimes it's work, but mostly it's life. And very often it's inappropriate. We may be grown ups, but you're never too old to tell a fart joke. Or share your latest sexcapade. And if any of us wallow too deep in the muck of education, there is always another to draw you out....back into the conversational fray. Every exciting moment of life has been shared around this faculty room table. Pregnancies, expected and accidental. Engagements...long awaited. Nieces, nephews, grandchildren...on their way! Stories of honeymoons and romance, defeat and disappointment. We've cried often, but laughed more.

And I wouldn't change it, even if it inevitably changes. As life always does. My guess is that, after the faculty room is long gone and the true lines of life have taken hold, we'll still find a way to break bread...and laugh. And love.