We are the laugh-a-lot-gang and we all have different hair!
This weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to a friends family holiday home. It was a small one bedroom house her Grandfather had built many years ago. Compact and perfect for him to stay over on his fishing weekends. There was a garage that has recently been renovated into a long room with bunk beds so it sleeps 6! This is where we stayed. Sleeping bags and pillows and a backpack each. It felt like being back in school and going away on camp! Before we left on Friday Monica's daughter gave us a nickname "The laugh-a-lot gang" How true that was going to be!
We drove up in two cars on Friday evening and threw together a tea of all the bits and pieces we had brought, cheese crackers, fruit, chocolate. It was heaven. We queued for the bathroom to do teeth and then giggled and acted like a bunch of ten year olds as we settled to sleep. Seeing your friends at 7am in sleeping bags, make up free and "just woke up hair" is a great leveller. No pretence. What you see is what you get and this bunch of girls is as real as they come. Over the weekend we laughed, we shared stories, some that made us wet ourselves with laughter, some that made us hug our arms tight around our knees and brought a lump to our throats. We have all lived very different lives and hearing each others stories made us look at each other with new respect.
I love my family and I love my house but 48 hours away from them didn't kill them and it renewed me. It was a simple weekend. It cost less than $100 including petrol money and thank you flowers for Granny. The only alcohol was a glass of Baileys on the Saturday night as we munched on M+M's and maltesers. No hangovers, long walks and laugh after laugh after laugh.
Here's an example: We were sitting at the table discussing something when Monica piped up "I know this is a bit off the topic but...." "Have you noticed that we all have different hair?" It took us about ten minutes to stop laughing and we were wiping tears from our eyes as she tried to expand. Her point was that we don't all look the same. We haven't all tried to follow the latest trend sporting the latest hair colour or cut. We are all just individuals and happy to be that way.
Brilliant, Gina! How glorious to have a getaway like that. It must do wonders for the soul. And spending time with treasured friends has to be the best thing ever. J x
What a lovely post, and what enjoyable occasion to be with your girlfirends.
You are right, the older we get, the lesser we need pretence, facade or hypocrisy. My close friends are like this too, and I thrive in their company.