The Three Of Us

Once a month, a most pleasurable get together happens to me: Jeanine and Jenny and I have some fun. In addition to many laughs and some deep conversations, what this represents is that you can sometimes connect with the past.... The three of us started working in the late 80"s and early 90's at the Daily Herald newspaper. This was back when we were young, eager, and, not yet measured by life. There is an intensity and joy when you start out on life's path: everyday brings endless promise. I was trying to get something going in acting. Jeanine was newly married. Jenny was right out of high school. Is there a better time in life? You are no longer bound by parents and you just KNOW that you will change the world. This is allowed in the young. We were friendly with each other at work, but, nothing more. There was plenty of time to get to know each other... Jeanine started having children and I saw less and less of her. Jenny became social and so did I. We would occasionally bump into each other at bars, say hi, and then depart, looking for fun.  And, did we ever find fun!!! Again, there was plenty of time to really get to know one another... Then life's dark side springs up: Both my parents and Jeanine's Mom  got very sick. I heard about this through the work grapevine. Around 30,we three found out about life and what really happens. Sadly, these things are beyond anyone's control and you lose loved ones....Around 1997, Jenny and I made the conscious decision to become drinking buddies. There was a bar across from the Herald building in Arlington Heights called Home Run Inn, but, we christened it the ''clubhouse''. And, it was our playground. We knew the owner, had a favorite bartender [ God Bless you Judy, wherever you are!!], dragged various people from work to drink with us, and, generally do the things that you do in bars. Now, Jeanine, she had the best job in the world going: she was a mother!!! 3 kids at this point. Again, we heard that she was doing well and Jen and I always said we should call her and get together. It never happened, for whatever reason. It might be because we didn't want to disturb her life now: she was happy and that was good enough for us.... Jump ahead to 2009. Jen and I were still hanging out together, but, less so as we found new loves and, quite frankly, age was slowly us down. Then a remarkable invention happened called Facebook. On it we hooked up with Jeanine. After being out of touch for close to 10 years, we all met up and the years seemed to fall away. Jeanine suffered a horrible personal loss that I won't talk about-- respecting her privacy. On the bright side, she had another child [ My Man Brady!!!] which brought her total of kids to 4!! And, like Jenny, she is as sweet and caring and fun as always... I write about this because friendship has always been one of my prides. I love my friends and through the passage of time that feeling never changes. Check out the picture in my Fb profile of us: life has measured us. And, we are survivors...