Ode to Old Friends

 While away in this different part of the country where several friends and family members live we have tried to take the time to catch up with people. Today we caught up with an old friend from our university days who've we've not seen much of over the last 30 years. It never ceases to amaze me how you can just fit back in with people in your life no matter when you last saw them.

I think it is the shared memories we hold that allow us to feel that welcome sense of familiarity and realising that underneath all of that passage of time there is still a thread of love that remains woven into your friendship that you get to tease out again when you meet up.

We spent together today catching up, laughing, reminiscing and visiting a couple more volcanoes. One of these was an iconic one that is written about in the song "One Tree Hill" by U2 from the Joshua Tree Album. This album played a large part in our lives 30 years ago when we all met at university so it felt like a symbolic coming home to be visiting this place for the first time with our old friend who remembers this time with us. The second volcano was a mountain that our friend knew well from days gone by when he lived and worked in the area. It felt like he was showing us a place that was part of his life and we were able to experience a fragment of that. The views over the city and surrounding landscape were captivating and I loved being able to spend this time enjoying it.

The memories made today will be stored in my memory bank to be savoured again in the future and these places have now become woven into the fabric of my life with the shared memory of experiencing with an old friend and my husband. That's something valuable that money can't buy!