I couldn't have picked a better quote to describe my thoughts after my girls getaway if I had written it myself (which I didn't). Last week I went on an amazing vacation to California with girls I've known since Farrah Fawcett was one of Charlie's Angels. For the last several years the six of us had all been planning on something fun and fantastic for our 40th birthdays. Apparently we all thought we'd be super rich because we tentatively planned on the Bahamas. Once realization sunk in, we decided to fly off to California to visit Jill instead.
Five of us left our kids, our jobs and our lives at home to hop on a plane and just hang out with each other. That was it. There were no plans for exotic sight-seeing tours, no agendas for night clubs or bars. All we wanted to do was relax and catch up with each others' lives.
When I think of the six of us, I have to admit - I'm not sure if we had met as adults if we'd all be as close as we are now for meeting when we were still in training bras and saddle shoes.
My first memory of Jill is bonding in a bathroom stall at Malone while in third grade, when I confessed my first boyfriend Jay broke up with me because I got a perm. "He's not worth it," she assured me. Wise advice coming from an 8 year old. Even then she seemed worldly.
My first memory of Kim is when we attended the same church growing up, and finding ways to sneak out of confirmation classes because surely there were more fun things to do than sit in a classroom and memorize the books of the Bible. She was always my partner in crime for the fun stuff. Sweet and innocent on the outside but a little bit of devil on the inside.
My first memory of Marnie (she actually goes by Marlo now and has for her entire adult life; I just can't bring myself to switch) is choreographing complicated dance moves to commercials. To this day I'm surprised a Hollywood producer never spotted us and signed us on the spot for a video. We were that good.
My first memory of Stephanie is taking home ec classes together. We just always liked the same things, and always liked to hang out. Whether it was chasing boys from Hastings or shaving our heads for the latest trend...I knew she'd be game for the fun stuff.
And as far as Beth goes... she was just always in for whatever. "Hey, let's go to Kmart and buy matching black and white outfits and wear them to the first day of 7th grade. We will be so cool." "I'm in!" Plus her parents owned a bar and she had the coolest rec room ever above her garage.
Everything on our vacation was funny. As grown women, our personalities definitely showed through, but somehow that made things even funnier.
On the plane ride there, my ADD and impatience at flying made itself known early. "What time is it?" I kept pestering my friends. When a flight attendant walked by, I pulled on her sleeve and whispered "How many more minutes?" Thankfully Marnie had packed about 6 months worth of People magazine along in her carry-on, and the mindless absorption of celebrity news kept me busy for most of the time.
After awhile I pulled out my phone and asked Stephanie, "I can turn this on now, right? They don't ban your cell phones on planes anymore do they?"
"Don't do it!" she admonished. "I swear, I just saw something on tv the other night. It will screw something up electrically with the plane I think."
Kim stood up and turned around in her seat. "No way, that is absolutely not true. If a cell phone had that sort of power the airlines would confiscate all of our phones and electronics before we even got on board."
Stephanie and I looked sheepishly at each other. I guess that made sense. Why screen for more than 3 ounces of liquid or sharp objects if someone is trying to smuggle on an iPhone that could possibly bring down a Boeing 747?
We arrived safely and started looking for Jill's husband Joe, who was sent to bring us back to their house. He's kind of a big cheese in the Navy, so we were secretly hoping he'd show up in his uniform.
"What if we get down to the baggage area and he's holding up a sign that says 'Welcome Prescott Bitches'"? I asked the other girls. That, fortunately or unfortunately, did not happen.
Once we made it to Jill's house, it was like no time at all had come between our last visits. We hugged, we squealed, we jumped up and down when we saw her.
And I'm happy to say... the rest of our vacation was that light hearted and happy.
The next day we rode bikes along the beach in a single file line, and made little comments about the people we rode by. When a large, 300+ pound shirtless man jogged by us, with his big ol' Santa belly glistening in the sun, I looked over my shoulder and said one word to Jill: "Dibs." When one of us would walk in front of the other, we'd announce in a sing-song voice, "Wish I had a burger to go with that shake." In essence, we all transformed into our cocky, loud-mouthed 17 year old selves.
And every night we sat around a fire and talked for hours. We looked at yearbooks and laughed until we cried. I don't think there was a single topic off limits. We covered it all.
Do you like your job?
How's your marriage going?
Do you shave, wax or go 70s retro?
How are your kids doing?
Why won't my son poop?
Do my nipples look weird?
Why did you sleep with that guy in college anyway?
How old were you when you lost your virginity? (Although, most of us usually knew the answers to that one because hey...we've been friends for a long time)
There's just something so comforting about being with friends that have known you and all your insecurities and hang-ups and have seen you evolve as a person. They're your biggest cheerleaders and supporters and you can't put a price on that.
The end of our trip came much faster than any of us wanted. We all marvelled that there was no drama, no fighting, no tension. Just a lot of love and support for each other. On the flight home I have a sneaking suspicion one of my friends slipped me a sleeping pill (to avoid my incessant questions) because I slept for most of the flight.
Or maybe I was just wiped out from all of our talking.
So like I said before, maybe we wouldn't all be friends now if we had met as adults. We come from different demographics and have different social circles now.
But somehow there is this magnetic pull with these women, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. After we took this picture, someone cracked "This photograph is probably going to end up on a greeting card with some funny saying, in our grandkids' time."
We should be so lucky.
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