Somewhere between stirrup pants and tie dye, I was in Girl Scouts. There was a song that was always very popular and I find myself humming it now, "Make New Friends."
"Make new friends, but keep the old
One is silver and the other's gold."
Nevermind that the perpetual wondering of which was silver and which was supposed to be gold that has, to this day, bugged me. It's like Auld Lang Syne [see When Harry Met Sally]. Why do we sing that song every year? Aside from being the tune for the UVA Fight Song, "The Good Ol' Song," it's just confusing. But I digress....
So there's this song that you sing in Girl Scouts about making new friends but not forgetting your old friends. I've found myself remembering my old friends a lot. College friends, sorrority sisters, co-worker at my first job, my wonderful Supper Club girls in San Diego, the "basketball team" intern co-workers at NAVFAC, the list goes on. Moving across the country and across the globe makes it really hard to keep in touch with those people and when you are 6-9 hours ahead even more difficult to ever be able to speak to them when you are both concious and/or sober. While my group of friends here has been growing, I find myself always wishing to have more people to call for coffee, invite over for dinner or to become travel buddies. It doesn't help that a lot of my current pool of friends travel all the time and the lonely lunches seem to be increasing rather than decreasing. "Seriously?! You are ALL leaving AGAIN!?!" Annoying.
This weekend, I accepted 2 invitations to parties, a housewarming and a baby shower. You know what? I met lovely people at both parties and thought, "My friends have really great friends!" Being a bit creepy, I added new friends on Facebook moments after meeting them (too soon? too desperate? whatever, va bene!). Mostly everyone has been here about 6 months, if not less, and we're all in that new/lost/lonely stage of life here. We're in Italy! It's too beautiful for us all to be lonely!
I'm hoping that with time and nurturing, some of these new acquaintences will become bosom friends [see Anne of Green Gables] and we'll have more and more people to explore all of the beauty, crazy and awkward that Italy has to offer. Maybe they know what Auld Lang Syne and that Girl Scout song mean....
To my old friends, I cherish you all, the memories that we made and the laughter that we shared. Looking forward to planting roots at some point and being close enough to see you all more frequently. Until then, Kasa de Keenan is open for business. Please consider us when you travel next.
That darn gold and silver song would make me tear up as a child! Also, I distinctly remember sobbing in the living room with my parents while watching TV - Dionne Warwick was on singing "That's what friends are for" and we had recently moved from Louisiana to Illinois. Coupled with the Silver and Gold Friends song, it was a dramatic tear-soaked evening for my poor mother.
ReplyDeletealso, you've been on my mind because one of my student's is from Naples! She is from the Camaldoli area, high up on the hill, and her family is important in some mafia there (perhaps this will come in handy during the next veggie embargo)
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