Old Friends

 "Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that."

Ally Condie

More than eight years ago we met a special group of people. Austen wasn't even 2 when we walked into his classroom at the Montessori school he went to in the city for his new class orientation. One guy wore a white suit and another woman asked too many questions but little did we know that we would grow to be great friends - our kids AND us! 

Bound by the friendship of our first borns and all in the same boat as full time working moms, we got together on New Year's, for Apple picking, birthday parties and to decorate cookies. We vacationed together, our kids shared their first sleepover, and  some of us had our second kids together. 

Sadly, it was short lived. Everyone moved. One family to Sweden, another to Texas and two to the Chicago suburbs while one stayed in the city. However, every so often we still get together. Tonight it was to see the play "A Christmas Carol" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago because Nate, one of Austen's friends in this group was playing Tiny Tim. 

Seven years later the kids still picked up where they left off after some initial shyness as they were all only 5 when everyone went their separate ways  and our reunions aren't as frequent as we would like!

I wish they all still went to the same school. We all have new parent friends now but nothing like we had together then when our kids were 2.