Friends!

“It is by chance that we met, 

by choice that we became friends.” 

- John Leonard

I am spending a few days with some 'old' friends. I met Colleen when I started teaching at the college in 1979. When Bonnie started at the college in 1984, she also became a good friend. There weren't many female instructors so we just naturally gravitated toward each other.

Roughly the same age, we were all mothers with two children close to the same ages. We shared the joys and stresses of all working moms. We often met for lunch on Fridays. When first semester finals were over, we usually went Christmas shopping in Rockford, Illinois. We would each drive, shop all morning, and then meet for lunch. We would compare notes about bargains and ideas. Then we would each go our separate ways and try to complete our shopping in the afternoon. Not much happened in our lives that the other two didn't know about. 

Our areas were different. Colleen taught Psychology; Bonnie was a nOffice Technology instructor and the lab supervisor; I taught Computer Science. We all encouraged each other in our efforts to take advanced graduate courses. We knew it was the best way to enrich our teaching and to advance on the salary schedule. Each of us has a Masters Degree and many hours - more than most PhDs have! One year all three of us and my dear husband took graduate classes at Disney University - we had a great time living at Disney World and enjoyed some of the best classes ever! 

Now that we are all retired, we try to get together every few years. Two of us live in Illinois and one in Florida so it takes a little planning to spend time together.

We picked Bonnie up at the airport this morning and our newest adventure has begun!