Years ago, I read a book with the title: The Girls with the Grandmothers' Faces, and I thought it was incredibly catchy. Here are a few of my mischievous friends who, although are up in years, as am I, still remain young at heart!
Our friendships have spanned well over four decades, and we Minnesota gals savor every single day when we can get together. In this case, we’re having lunch with our husbands who all worked for the JC Penney Co. We call ourselves ‘The Penney Wives.’ To the right is Nancy Steffel, and just across the table from Nancy and I are Barb Collette and Judy Severance.
Friendships at any age are special, but the bond we all share is unique. Our husbands’ positions at the JC Penney Co. required us to relocate to different regions of the country—over—and—over—and over! I’m not sure companies relocate their employees much anymore, in fact, I’m betting lots of folks nowadays who work for large companies work out of their homes. I will say one very positive thing about being forced to relocate to different regions of the country: It definitely keeps you from living in a bubble!
The wonderful thing about aging is that you get to take a step back and reflect on what shaped your friendships over the years. Rather than wondering if your friendships can survive turbulent times, you’re now looking in the rearview mirror, marveling at all you’ve been through and how far you’ve come.
Nancy, and her husband, Dave, were there when my husband and I married, or—in the words of our wedding invitation— ‘made the human decision to love each other for life.’ (Isn’t that wedding invite just so 70s?) Nancy’s the only Penney wife I knew at the time, and we love talking about that very special time in our lives when our husbands worked together in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Barb and I are only a few weeks apart in age, and both of us married guys from Pittsburgh. She was one of the first to welcome us to Wisconsin when my husband was transferred there. The Collettes invited us over for a 4th of July picnic at their home in Oconomowoc, and even though Barb was busy cooking for the event, she managed to squeeze in time to bake a birthday cake for our son, Matt, who turned two that July 4th. And I never get tired of hearing Barb’s husband, Jim, joke about buying ‘Two pickets to Tittsburgh.’ (Get it, it should be ‘Two tickets to Pittsburgh.’) It never gets old.
Judy and I often recall the time we were transferred to Texas and the Severances invited us over for Thanksgiving Dinner. In an effort to make our first Thanksgiving in Plano special, I pulled out all the stops and made homemade dinner rolls—you know—the kind where you knead the bread for hours and watch it rise before popping it into the oven. Apparently, Judy’s son, Larry, was less than impressed with my baking skills and picked up several hard rolls, heaving them in the air. He compared them to either a hockey puck or baseball. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter which it was. Some thirty-five years later when Thanksgiving rolls around, (no pun intended) Judy still asks me if I’ve baked any dinner rolls lately.
These are the memories we love to preserve, and have tried, in our own way, to pass them down to our children. who, quite frankly, don’t always want to hear about them! I suspect this is why I wrote my memoir a few years back; to squeeze things I’ve experience into some type of time capsule. I hope as I write this, some of you will jot down fond memories you have to pass on to those who would enjoy hearing your stories.
I wish all of you a very Happy Solar Eclipse which falls on my birthday, today. I’ve got the glasses and am ready to go!
Don’t forget to grab a copy of the second book in my cozy mystery series, RHYTHM OF REVENGE. It’s on preorder beginning April 5th. I’m happy to welcome the newest addition to the Serennity Hills Family, a sheltie named Piper. Those of you who’ve owned shelties know that they’re rather hyper, so we dubbed her ‘Hyper Piper.’ She’s gonna steal your heart!
You are all so fortunate to still be so connected. And social media does allow us to stay connected with friends, old and new. Loved reading this piece.