Showing posts with label maryland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maryland. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Renewing Friendships


Academy of the Holy Cross
Yearbook 1972

Making friends for the world to see
Let the people know you got what you need
           ~ Elton John

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to catch up and renew friendships with two women who went to high school with me.

Both women are incredibly talented and very smart: one is an internationally respected sculptor and the other is a retired teacher/photographer. They both look great and we easily fell back into conversation about our lives since high school graduation which was (unbelievably!) many decades ago.
 
We lost track of each other as our lives went in different directions after high school but to connect again now as adults and tell each other our stories is an interesting and healing process.   I think it's pretty normal to temporarily lose contact with people you went to high school with because your focus on starting a career and a family changes from not having either in high school to wanting both when you graduate from college. 

I think it's fair to say that in your twenties and thirties you are focusing on what is emotionally important to you.  It's not that you forget about the friends you made in high school, because I did think about them and wondered what had happened to them; I think it's more that life calls you to try different things and see different places in the world and you slowly lose track of what is happening to those people you used to see almost every day for four years.

If Facebook or Twitter had been around when we were in high school or college, I think it would have been a no brainer for us to maintain contact.

In my teenage enthusiasm for having a good time, I don't think I paid full attention to what was really going on with people I went to school with.  Looking back now, I see many serious issues that were happening to all of us but we never addressed them unless it reached a crisis point such as your parents getting a divorce.  Today, I understand it a lot better and truly appreciate the strength, wisdom and patience it takes to change and grow after life throws you some curveballs you weren't expecting.

But I digress.  Saturday with my high school friends was all about fun and sharing.  It was about appreciating each other's talents and life experiences and supporting each other as we are right now at this stage of our lives.

In the car on the way to Annapolis, I listened to my friend talk about her love of photography and how she recently started a blog, which of course I found exciting.  I have seen her pictures, and even if I didn't know her, I know I would be drawn to them.  The composition of her photography is thoughtful and when gazing at her pictures your eyes don't want to leave what they are seeing.  She photographs all kinds of beach landscapes, general scenic pictures and pictures of people in spontaneous situations.

Our reunion took place at the Maryland House, in Annapolis, where our other friend's incredible sculptures were on exhibit.  Her art is truly beautiful and inspiring and I learned a lot about how her marble pieces, both large and small, came to be.  It is truly a gift to be with the artist and their art at the same time.  I took some pictures and I will be sharing them in a future post because I want to tell you more about the organic nature of her sculptures.

Later when we went to a restaurant for dinner with others, I sat and listened to my friends and thought about each of us and our winding life journeys and how we ended up coming together.  We each handled challenges yet were resilient and persevered on and found our passions.

Life works in funny ways and when I have days like this, I wouldn't change one bit of it.

Please check out my friends' art in these links below.  I think you're going to love it as much as I do!

http://weathereyefocus.com/ (photography)

http://cmsculpture.com/ (sculpture)
 

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day!




Yesterday my Dad and I celebrated Father's Day a little early.

My gift to him:  Time

I could have gone to the store and bought him another shirt or another book or another CD.  Or I could have thought ahead and tried to make a present for him which I used to do a lot when I was a child.  One year I wrote a poem to him and cut out pictures of fathers and daughters from a magazine and glued the pictures all around the poem and then bought a frame from the drugstore.

But this year I decided to give him something you can't buy anywhere and that is the gift of time.  My Dad doesn't drive anymore so I picked him up early yesterday morning and we took a road trip to some of his favorite places in southern Maryland.

The weather was beautiful: low humidity, a slight breeze and the sun was shining not too brightly.  We went south to the Chesapeake Bay area and checked out some of the different places that he likes near the water and then drove to Broomes Island for lunch at Stoney's Seafood House (www.stoneysseafoodhouse.com).

Stoney's is right on Island Creek in Calvert County and is also home to some of the best crabcakes ever!  It's been there for over 20 years and you can drive there or come up to it by boat.  It's just one of those scenic out-of-the-way places where people slow down and sit and talk and listen to each other while letting their tired spirits gain strength from the area's quiet beauty. 

I didn't hear a cellphone ring the whole time we were there! 

It was a day of letting my dad do the talking about anything he wanted and listening to stories he wanted to re-tell.  It was also a day of just sitting and enjoying time with someone who is the best Dad in the whole world.

Happy Father's Day to my Dad and to all the other Dads out there who work hard to make their children's lives a lot better.

And to those whose Dads are no longer with them today, I hope you have many warm memories of you and your Dad and time well spent together!









Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Paris In Pennsylvania -- 2011 Philadelphia Flower Show


Everyone is tired of the ice, the snow, the cold and winter in general. 
 
For those who are grieving,  winter can be particularly harsh.  As an antidote to this dreary time of year, Sibley Hospital is organizing a day trip on Wednesday, March 9 to the 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show.  This year's theme is "Springtime in Paris" and visitors can expect to enjoy spectacular flower sculptures and carousel topiaries as well as lush flowering trees, lilacs, roses and borders of lavender.

Travel Itinerary -- Wednesday, March 9, 2011

8:00 am        Depart Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda, Md.
11:00 am      Arrive at Philadelphia Flower Show
                      Free time to enjoy the flower show &; lunch on your own
4:00 pm        Depart for Washington, DC
7:30 pm        Arrive Westwood Shopping Center in Bethesda, Md.

Cost per person: $79.00 (includes transportation, entry into the flower show, tolls, taxes & all gratuities

Contact: Kim Grizzle at Eyre Tour & Travel for reservations at 1-800-321-3973