Names say a lot. And that's bad for me, since I am more of a face person. I have three main groups of friends. I have my church friends--about a half-dozen girls that are moms with kids about the same age as mine, who share my faith and consider it a priority to have their kids involved at church. Next I have my fitness buddies--the group of girls that I have been working out and kickboxing with for several years. I also have my PTA group--the parents who have kids in my childrens' school, who think it is important to know the school, the teachers and have a say in what happens there. The problem is, these major parts of my life don't generally intersect. This makes for a lot of interesting coversation between myself and any one member of one of these groups.
For instance when I refer to one of my friends to a girl outside that particular group, I actually talk about them like this:
A few of the church girls--
--Jill, my jewelry store friend (she and her husband own Van Horn Jewelers in Owego, NY).
--Marissa, my Berkshire friend (because everybody knows I have a friend who lives out in Timbuk2).
--Angel, my funny friend (she is always the life of the party)
--Crystal, my friend who does everything
Or some kickboxing ones--
--Karen, my marathon friend (she ran the NYC marathon in 2004)
--Lisa Kickbox (because after kickboxing with her for over a year, I still had no idea of her last name. Fortunately, my cell phone directory figures that "Kickbox" is a totally reasonable last name)
--Paige Kickbox (again, the cell phone directory doesn't care that her name is actually spelled Paij as long as it sounds right)
--Twee (I found out her last name a week ago, but still am guessing the spelling on the first name is wrong. However, no need to add "Kickbox" to the end, because I don't know any other Twee's).
A couple of the PTA ones:
--Marianne, my PTA friend (she is the co-president with me)
--Sue, my tall friend
and sometimes, the name has a sadder connotation like:
Annette, who's son had leukemia
Or a happy one like:
Mary, my friend who introduced me to my John
But the truth is, in order to describe these people to one another--an important fact is true. They have shared their lives with me and I have shared mine back with them. Although the descriptions seem silly, they work, and everybody knows who I am talking about. And although they may not have met one another, many of them feel as if they know the others. And that makes me smile.
For instance when I refer to one of my friends to a girl outside that particular group, I actually talk about them like this:
A few of the church girls--
--Jill, my jewelry store friend (she and her husband own Van Horn Jewelers in Owego, NY).
--Marissa, my Berkshire friend (because everybody knows I have a friend who lives out in Timbuk2).
--Angel, my funny friend (she is always the life of the party)
--Crystal, my friend who does everything
Or some kickboxing ones--
--Karen, my marathon friend (she ran the NYC marathon in 2004)
--Lisa Kickbox (because after kickboxing with her for over a year, I still had no idea of her last name. Fortunately, my cell phone directory figures that "Kickbox" is a totally reasonable last name)
--Paige Kickbox (again, the cell phone directory doesn't care that her name is actually spelled Paij as long as it sounds right)
--Twee (I found out her last name a week ago, but still am guessing the spelling on the first name is wrong. However, no need to add "Kickbox" to the end, because I don't know any other Twee's).
A couple of the PTA ones:
--Marianne, my PTA friend (she is the co-president with me)
--Sue, my tall friend
and sometimes, the name has a sadder connotation like:
Annette, who's son had leukemia
Or a happy one like:
Mary, my friend who introduced me to my John
But the truth is, in order to describe these people to one another--an important fact is true. They have shared their lives with me and I have shared mine back with them. Although the descriptions seem silly, they work, and everybody knows who I am talking about. And although they may not have met one another, many of them feel as if they know the others. And that makes me smile.
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