CLS - A Highly Special Secret Society

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

(The Message - I love this version)  Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.

I am blessed to have many great friends.  Who was it that once said that if you can count your good friends on one hand, you are truly blessed.... well, I need fingers and toes.  I am more than blessed.  I know that - and I don't take that for granted for a single day.

A few of times a year, I reconnect with my two BFFs from elementary school - Carole and Sherry  (last names omitted to protect the not so innocent!).   I love it when we get together.  We are suddenly teenagers - teasing and ribbing each other as we  spend a few days relaxing and going back in time.  It's like suddenly we are in high school again, except that we can laugh at the things that we thought were big deals back in those high school days - like reader class levels, who had the most friends, and who was dating each other's boyfriends (the latter event not known by all until 40 some years later - and I'm still a little ticked about it!). 

This "reconnection" came at my daughter's wedding a few years ago.  We were sitting at the reception talking about high school folks - who was still gorgeous and who had not aged quite as gracefully as we think we have.  Carole's hubby, Mike, said that we needed to get together and spend a few days hashing this stuff out so he didn't have to listen to us talk about guys!  (I just love Mike!)  He then suggested we get together at their lake house.  And so.... we did just that August before last.  We had such a good time, we decided to get together again at my house near the beach last summer.  We still hadn't had enough of each other so we spent a few days together at Carole and Mike's lake house again last month.  And we decided that we would "retreat" once a quarter next year! 

So, just what do three school buddies do when they get together for a few days?  Well, we yak and eat and laugh and play board games and drink wine and watch chick flicks and yak and eat and drink wine and laugh and look at annuals and yak and eat and drink wine and laugh a lot more.  Sometimes there are a few tears mixed in, but then we usually end up laughing at each other for crying!  

Two of us sit around in our pajamas - one is just too proper to wear PJ's all day.  I won't name names.... I'll just say, it ain't me!!!!  We make a trip or two to town to Wal Mart where I purchase things I don't need and can't afford being as I'm out of work and all.  However, these friends don't discourage me from buying what I can't afford! - Oh no!  These two dear friends encourage me to buy, buy, buy!  They tell me that if I want it I should get it - and so I do!  We also play with toys and "rough up" a few baby dolls and and mechanical animals to make them laugh or cry or sing or whatever it is they are supposed to do. 

Carole and Sherry tease me when Lamar calls and say that my face lights up like a schoolgirl.  That's probably true!  However, I notice that Carole's face does the same thing when Mike calls - and likewise - Sherry's face lights up when Walt calls, too.  We are very aware of our blessings - and we know that those three fellows are a big part of what we have to be thankful for - and that we are blessed to still have each other in friendships that began so many years ago.  

As a warning, just let me say that if you graduated from high school in the late 60s in Gastonia, NC - and your ears are burning a few times a year... there is probably a good reason for that.  CLS is going on.  (I would tell you what CLS stands for but it is a very top secret organization with only three members who chose those initials as the name of their week-end retreat.... you can probably figure it out, anyway!)

Check out your calendars, gals - I think we decided to meet at your lake house in January or February, Carole.  I'm ready when you two are!!!!

What is it that my mother used to sing to me?  "Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver, the other is gold!"  I love you mom... and you were usually right.  But, I must say that my blessings include friends - old and new - and they are all precious gems. 

Lord, you place so many precious gifts in my path...  friends and family that bless my life in so many ways.  Never let me take the love of these dear ones for granted, Lord.  They know how to lift me up when I'm down - and how to pull me down to earth when I get a little too big for my britches.  I see You in each one of them, Lord.  And I thank you every day for each of them.  Amen.