My high school “gal pal” has headed back to Lancaster PA after an all-too-short visit. It is so funny how you can get together with a good friend after years and years apart, and feel like no time has passed at all.
We were inseperable in high school – even calling each other and talking incessently on the phone as soon as we got home each day, although we had spent the entire day together! But as happens all too often, our lives took us in seperate directions after graduation – she went to college in Pennsylvania, and I went to college in NY. She got engaged to a man from PA, I got engaged to Mark in NY. We were in each other’s weddings, and while Mark and I lived in NY we managed to see each other more often. Mark and I went to Pennsylvania in the fall of 1978 so that they could take us on the “PA tour”. This trip is still one of my favorite vacation memories in the “before kids” phase of our lives. We met in Philadelphia and started our vacation there, touring the city which gave Mark some tremendous “photo opps” including one of my all time favorite pics of an elderly gentleman sitting on a bench and playing a beautiful old violin, at the National Historical Park. From there we visited Valley Forge National Historical Park which was not only interesting, but gorgeous framed with autumn colors. From there we travelled through Lancaster County to do some antiquing, and then for fun headed up to Hershey. My memories involve a lot of laughing and a lot of eating!
We talked about that trip during her visit – and shook our heads in disbelief that here we are now, each in our 50’s, with two grown kids each, five grandkids for me, and one for her. The last time she was here Dave had just graduated from high school! She was interested to see Mark’s studio after hearing about it for the past 8 years – knowing it had always been his dream. Hers was the first wedding that Mark ever shot – more than 35 years ago! So it felt like coming full circle when she invited us to come visit PA again soon, and have Mark photograph her grandson! Where does the time go??
