That junction in the road…

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor and catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover...” – Mark Twain

I actually did not have a lot of friends until later in adolescence…

There were five of us who were best friends in that town. My best friends were a cadre of colorful characters. As best friends will do, the five of us enjoyed each other's presence and spent every waking hour together. We had so much in fucking common. And as best friends will do, we grew older, and moved to different towns, and saw each other less and less as the years went by.

We are 55 now, no longer kids. We had families and responsibilities and far-flung lives. But, as if by instinct, after many decades of separation, we came together again. Every time we meet, there’ll always be a twinge of sadness and loss as we turn the pages of our life and reminisced. We allowed our varied perspectives to illuminate each other, our strengths bolstered by the restorative powers of our friendship. We often look back at our childhood experiences through college and careers, all accompanied by a host of happiness and contentment but intertwined with domestic troubles, betrayals and agonizing fears and worries. We were intrigued in storytelling about the unlived life, the road not taken, the secret not told. We talked about what-ifs, that junction in the road where what seems a small decision at the time, yet it was something that changed our life for better or worse.

We don’t meet or speak to each other that often nowadays. But we know that we can still have conversations sometimes without even speaking…

(Big 5 less Kid)

Standing L-R: Anie, Bee, Nong & Ubai

Seated L-R: Nong, Ubai, Bee & Anie