Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Tea and Tacos

Now that grades are turned in and grade grubbing has slowed to a trickle, I've been looking at my days before Christmas with anticipation. Which friend will I connect with today? Where will I walk the dogs? What cookies shall I bake this afternoon?

Yesterday I headed to the South Valley to see one of my oldest friends in Albuquerque. We met at the South Broadway Library when my children were very young - my daughter was strapped to my body in a sling, and my son had just moved from picture books to chapter books. We stumbled on the library end of the South Broadway complex one day after seeing a matinee at the theater, and I was thrilled to see so many books featuring children of color and rainbow families just like ours.

I stopped at the children's librarian's desk to comment on this, and started a conversation that has lasted 15 years.

My friend became one of our daughter's godmothers, and we have made efforts in our busy lives to stay connected - through moves and children's events and school and singing and writing and all of the different endeavors that define us. Lately we've struggled to find time to just meet and talk and catch up with life. So when I got an invite to come for tea, I jumped at it.

"Tea" turned into talk over wine and preparing tacos and stir-fried eggplant and sharing a meal with the company of two of her five children - one grown and one nearly grown, plus a grandson. What a lovely night of cooking, camaraderie, and companionship!.

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