Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Showing up

I wonder if the wind just wants to
sit still sometimes 
and watch the world pass by 

If smoke was born knowing how to rise 
If rainbows get shy back stage 
not sure if their colors match right

—Naima Penniman



I promised I'd stop hiding out. And so, when my dear friends Elizabeth and Michael from our Life Magazine days called last week to say they were going to be in town from Austin, Texas  and could we get together, I said yes. Elizabeth and I were reporters together, and her husband, Michael, was a photographer, and he and I were often paired on assignments. When I walked into the diner where we met for breakfast this morning, I had a flashback, seeing Michael sitting there, as if we were in some town in the middle of the country on assignment. Next to him was Elizabeth, one-third of our wild trio of reporters, who got up to all kinds of mischief back in the day.

It really felt as if no time had passed. We could have sat all day catching up, but they're in town for a memorial service this afternoon so we had to watch the time. I'm so glad they never gave up on me. Elizabeth has come to town and called me at least five times to try get together, and now we finally have, and of course, all the fear of judgment ("She got so fat") is unfounded, the years fall away, and it is only your friend you see.

We took a selfie to mark the occasion. What I particularly love about it is that you can see Michael's calculating eye as he sets up the picture. Here's a photo he took of me when we were on an assignment in Fort Wayne, Indiana when I was 26. We were in the airport coffee shop waiting for our flight back to New York. The sun came up and slipped through the blinds and Michael reached for his camera. Good times.

18 comments:

  1. I'm so glad! It sounds fun, and both photos are wonderful.

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  2. I relate to this so much. I, too, have friends who do not give up on me and I am so, so, so grateful and I thank them for it and I love them.
    And they love me. Just as Michael and Elizabeth love you.
    Both pictures: perfection.

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  3. I want to know more about the all kinds of mischief ! ;-)

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  4. Lovely photos...you were breathtaking...really!

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  5. You know its true friendship when you can get together and feel like no time has passed. The pictures are beautiful!

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  6. Sounds wonderful! That picture with the light through the blinds, WOW, hang that in a museum!

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  7. I love both images. The passing of time is wild, isn't it? I'm glad you got together with old friends -- you all look gorgeous and charmed.

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  8. It is easy to see where your daughter gets her beauty from!

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  9. Getting together with old friends is the best. Good for you for getting out. Both images are wonderful.

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  10. What a beautiful photo! Blinds always make such dramatic light. I'm glad you got together with your friends! It's essential to maintain those ties, I think.

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  11. "look how beautiful she still is"...that's what they said.

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  12. I'm glad you got together with them and had a good time. I know that gained weight don't want to see anybody from the olden days feeling.

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  13. Oh yes, the wonderful feeling of seeing people you haven't seen in awhile and picking up right where you left off ... that is so lovely.

    Love both of these photos.

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  14. This is beautiful, and you are beautiful, then and now. The way time passes is so confounding.

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