Strongly Worded

My Lady Friends

So last night I had the rare pleasure of hanging out with several members of my former posse (who have defected to New Orleans and suburbia, respectively), and some other friends. I cannot tell you how awesome this was. Along with with their boyz, K., Robyn, and I had dinner and discussed the possibility of ordering a Tofu Square in honor of Melinda (whose love of turkey pot pies does not preclude her love for these). Melinda would have been there, too, had she not defected to the Midwest. I miss said posse in a big way. In the way that Carrie does, in one of the last SATC episodes. Remember that scene after she moves to Paris, and it sucks, and she walks by this coffee shop and through the window she sees a group of French Samantha-Miranda-Charlotte look-alikes, all nodding and laughing together? I see scenes like that, and experience wistful feelings like that, all the time. I see Robyn a fair amount, and we all keep in touch, but it's just not the same.

Last night, after dinner, we ended up convening outside a cafe, and I went inside to use the bathroom, and then I came out and everyone was assembled outside and I had this moment of pure happiness, seeing them all (well, sans Melinda, but still) together in one place, and I said hi, you guys, savoring the words, because how often do I get to say that?

My mom says maybe I will get a new posse. Maybe my work BFFs (the beloved chicks in my immediate office plus the Admissions Girls minus the Mean Admissions Girl) will get together more regularly and sit on blankets together on the Fourth of July. And watch the equivalent of gymnastics and American Idol together (Robyn and Melinda have even done this virtually, on g-chat). Maybe we will talk about race and whether it's OK to use the word "ghetto" to describe something of poor quality (Last night, the verdict was no.). Maybe we will talk about negotiating pay raises at work, or debate whether it is ethically different to illegally download music vs. illegally watch TV online.

But somehow I just can't imagine it. Maybe work BFFs can morph in to BFF 2.0s (because dude, I'll always have the 1.0s). I am blessed to have lots of other BFFs in my life - amazing women (and a stray guy!) who I really, truly, love. But they're not all friends with each other, and they belong to posses of their own.

I am not sure if it's possible for a posse to evolve at this stage in one's adulthood. I could maybe join one, but do they ever coalesce from scratch?

Posted by Dori at 5:29 PM