Coffee, Anyone?

As wet, grey, winter days go, this one was pretty good!  Last night I received an email from a friend: a call-out for morning coffee.  We two are part of a very loosely-organized group of women who meet periodically for coffee or lunch.  There is no set schedule to these gatherings, and rarely do all of us make an appearance at the same time - a very hit & miss group of friends.  We all work in some capacity, and all volunteer here and there, and we all have husbands and kids who are, at this point, either in high school, college or beyond.  Interestingly, I became part of this "Coffee" group almost thirteen years ago when we moved to Kansas. The women who welcomed me into their posse were part of a "Mom's" group some ten years earlier, who met when their toddlers went to nursery school, and the frazzled young mothers met for coffee and a support system.


There four of us who were to meet this morning.  I have been sliding down a chasm of cabin fever this week, which is unusual for me, the lover of all things holiday and winter. But winter with a negative temperature and "all dressed up with nowhere to go" kept me housebound for too long. Was I becoming a shut-in?!


At coffee, we laughed, we shared anecdotes, we caught up with each other after missing this time over the T'giving and Christmas holidays.  We discussed Alzheimers, which the mother of one coffee friend was diagnosed with a couple of years ago.  Another coffee friend shared the news of her four now-grown sons, the youngest of whom is educably retarded and lives at home with her and her husband.  I told my coffee friends that I was losing my mind: I found won-tons in my cupboard!    (Wontons should be kept in the fridge or freezer.  Why had I put wontons in my cupboard?!)  The other friend described her hike in the snowy park which resulted in her, her son and her husband, getting lost and ending up in someone's backyard.   We touched on the what-ups of GMOs, and church taxes in Europe.  (At this point someone mentioned that I had too much time on my hands. I concurred.)


It's fun, it's a blessing, and some days, it's a life-saving buoy to have friends like this.  We don't meet regularly, or often, but we all enjoy each other's company, shared experiences, and jocularity. 


So, this day was pretty good!