One friend wanted to walk yesterday morning. And then another friend asked me to walk before our weekly lunch, which we decided needed to be at the park yesterday. So I had two back-to-back walking dates. Strollers were involved, of course.
Friend #1 volunteered to watch a couple kids involved in the second walk with Friend #2. And then we all met back at the nearby playground for lunch. It was impromptu for Friend #1 so Friend #2 and I watched two of her three kids while she went to pick up lunch. Friend #3 joined us for lunch with her two boys.
To summarize: Four hours of my late morning and early afternoon yesterday were spent outside with three friends and our combined nine kids. This after I picked strawberries with Friend #4 earlier in the week.
Change the numbers and add a couple other friends to the mix and this is my life. I know this won’t last forever, but, really, this is the beauty of this season, both the one on the calendar and the one of my life.
I love how yesterday evolved. I love how we can walk across the street to the park to meet friends and exercise in the process. I love that these friends care about my kids and know them as people. I love watching the kids develop relationships with each other.
And then later in the day when I feel some anxiousness rise up in my soul about something personal, I can text and call and talk in person to these people. They are my friends at the park, but, more importantly, they are my friends in life. So today when I emotionally failed at another {bigger} social function at the park, some of these same friends checked on me.
Right now, yes, we find common ground while our kids swing each other and play make-believe games on the playground equipment. We may get some time on a park bench or a sprawled out blanket with the smallest friends who don’t go very far on their own {yet …} to talk about life. Or we may push each others’ kids who want to swing but don’t {yet} know how to pump their legs. We make plans to go other places or to each others’ houses when our husbands can socialize with us too. We share food and make jokes and reminisce about when our kids did such-and-such, often times when another kid nearby was involved.
And we share life. On the best of days, this seems to happen outside on an ordinary day.
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I love this.