Once neighbors...forever friends

In the spring of 1999 I had been married to my husband for three years, was pregnant with our first child, and desperate to move out of our one bedroom apartment. Though now looking back, the charming San Francisco-style apartment we lived in was hardly small, well over 1200 square feet.  It featured hardwood floors, loft style windows. a galley kitchen with eat in nook, a large entry room, huge bedroom with two walk in closets, expansive living room area, and all the charm that an early 1900's building could give--with all the modern touch ups. I have moved over fourteen times in the last twenty years and it is the only place I miss. But I was young, and pregnant and thought we needed "more space" because we were having a baby and so I settled for an aging, 1945 era, house that was in desperate need of some TLC. I settled for it because it was on a beautiful tree lined street in a neighborhood that was known for its charm and uniqueness. We were settled into our bread box for just under a year when a young family bought the house next door. They had a son, only two months older than my own, and that pretty much fanned the flame of our sweet friendship. Shortly after, we moms found ourselves both pregnant with our girls and thus the bond between neighbors was sealed. We grew as friends, our kids grew up side by side, and many hours were spent going back and forth from house to house or sitting out on our front lawns watching our kids play.

So this past weekend we had the chance to go up and visit these dear friends and neighbors for a much needed time together. It had been seven months since we had last seen them! Yet, it's one of those kinds of friendships that feels like no time has passed since visits, we all just pick up where we left off and settle into the comfortableness of being with each other.  To say that the girls were just beyond excited to see each other is an understatement.

Since the above pictures are "now" shots, I though it would be fun to post a "then" photo.  

I was thinkin' that this could seriously be a "then/now" demonstration of my photo skills as well, but I think I am going to defend myself a little in explaining that at this time I was still working with film and this shot was taken with one of the first point and shoot digitals...the kind that have the twenty second (more like one hour) shoot delay, maybe 3 megapixels, and only one auto function.

Anyway, I have titled this "then" shot: Goggle Girls.

I giggle at these goggle girls every time I see this picture. It never gets old for me. I know I have written about my daughter's funny gene, but this photo is serious proof of it. She loved those goggles dearly and thought it quite hysterical to wear them around the house. A few other notes about this picture: One, I miss that Japanese Maple on the porch. He would drop his leaves in August, and then bud again in the California Indian summer in late October, drop leaves again in November, and bud in February. He was a confused little guy and I loved him. Two, I miss Bean's floppy, curly, soft hair! It was one of my favorite things about her (wiping the tear). Look at her. :)

And then you have the boys. What can I say? They experienced the toddler years together...as boys. If you have a boy, you know what I'm talkin' about. If not, all I will say is: crayons, cream colored couch, and sneaky. Or even better: backyard, fence, urinate. You get my drift?

And do the rabbit ears every get old boys?

Here they are in their soccer uniforms at age five. I think their smiles and hair cuts have improved with age, you think? (I've blown up the picture just a little bigger so we can all see those red socks.)

As the kids were running around in the back yard just like old times I wanted to take advantage of the fading light and catch at least a few pictures of the kids together. (It had been seven months for Pete's sake!) Our friends were obliging and obedient to my requests for a picture time-out. Thank you!

Bean on the other hand reacted like I was about to pull out her teeth, one by one, without any drugs. (Zach, he just ignored me.)

I usually try to not nag, bug, plea, offer up bribes, but this day I did. I wanted to capture their friendship in a photo before we wait seven more months to see them again. I had to remind her that the fence behind her in this picture used to have a daddy-built gate that connected our backyards. That our friends were like relatives and we needed to document the times we got together because that is what families do. It took a few minutes and then she obliged. Thank you Bean. I think you will thank me in a few years when you have these pictures to remind yourself of the treasure you have in a friendship. A friendship that will always be there, even if you do not get to see her every day, or even every month.

P.S. A message for my dear friends/neighbors: let's not wait so long to get together. I don't want to be taking our kid's next pictures together when they are twenty. And thank you for the time together, and the bottle of my favorite wine, and my favorite cheese, and for the Fred steak, and recounting the times our children first dropped the major f-bomb, aaaaaand for the dance off. Love you. xoxo