This week, I am extremely happy to have a friend visiting from Los Angeles. Her name starts with L and she was born in the winter, so she is qualified to be my close friend.
We were on-line friends first, meeting each other in a shady little internet room for women who are crazy about antique textiles. That sounds better than vintage tablecloths, doesn’t it?
After chatting about old tea towels for a while, Leslie - an actor who has been in several movies you’ve seen and done tons of TV, commercial and voiceover work – mentioned that she had grown up in the Philadelphia suburbs. Follow-up questions revealed that she grew up in THIS EXACT TOWN. She had gone to the high school our kids go to, she had attended the church where we are members, and she had lived in the very house now occupied by our friends Donna and Anthony.
Like Anne of Green Gables and Diana, Leslie and I are kindred spirits. We email each other, oh, almost every day. We once met in person in Santa Barbara for dinner a couple of years ago. Then, last weekend, she arrived in town for her high school reunion. And stayed an extra week so see more old friends, hang out with us, and help me at my vintage sale tomorrow.
As I write, Les is downstairs ironing a huge pile of linens. Then she’s going to help me price stuff, and tomorrow, she will assist at the sale.
Two nights ago, Les came over in her rented Hyandai with the roll-down windows (you forget how inconvenient those are) to rescue me when Ian’s car broke down in Swarthmore, as I was trying to retrieve Malcolm from a friend’s house. Chris wasn’t supposed to drive because of his surgery, but problem solved! Les was here.
Last night, she and I drove into the city where she helped me work a client event, the lighting of the Christmas tree and lights on Rittenhouse Square. It’s like having a personal assistant/guardian angel around, one with a caustic sense of humor.
Having her visit this week has been a joy (PS she was wise enough to stay at a hotel - things here have been a bit chaotic). I forgot was it like to have another female in the house.
When’s the next reunion?
