Tommy's back in Dallas. He drove Tom's little Capris. While he was here, we ate and ate and ate some more - Tom smoked a turkey, and I made a double batch of cyclops cookies. They're already gone!
Santa paid a special return visit and filled our stockings. One of my gifts was the movie "In Bruges" that I had read about on Mystery Man's blog - some readers had commented that it was the best film of the year, and I hate to admit it, but I hadn't even heard of it. I have to agree that it was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time - overall it's a tragedy and there are some graphic scenes, but it's also a little funny, and very touching. The characters are rounded out and original, all of the parts add to the story, no cliche's...anyway, I recommend it.
Last night the house was filled with laughter. Two of Tommy's best friends since elementary school - Graham and Jordi - came by and they were downstairs watching something that elicited crying laughter - I could hear the tears in the guffaws and hoots and gasps for air. It's hard to believe they're adults now - where has the time gone? - but Graham graduated from Texas A&M Galveston with a degree in Marine Engineering Technology and a Third Assistant Engineer License in the U.S. Merchant Marine this past May (on the same day and at the same time as Tommy was graduting from the University of North Texas!) and he's been working as an engineer on ships since then. He was heading out this morning for another cruise.
And Jordi also graduated in May from Stanford with a BA in "Psychology with a Specialization in International Political Economy" and an extra BA in International Relations. (During spring break of their freshman year, Tommy, Graham and a few other friends visited Jordi at Stanford, taking a train to San Francisco, and a side trip to the Emergency Room after Tommy cut his shin open "jumping a fountain." I didn't even know about it until he was back home. Kids!)
I'm so glad they've kept their friendships alive, despite being at different colleges and moving in different directions. I have lots of friendships from my school days - some that I've held on to this whole time. Others have been rediscovered, especially since our last high school reunion. But a few have slipped out of reach, and I'm not sure why. It seems that sometimes even those you've held on to for decades aren't safe. I've read that friendships have to be tended like a garden, and I know during those years when my kids were young, I wasn't always a very good gardener. Now I feel like Mary in The Secret Garden, trying to dig around and find the plants that are still alive and nurture them back to health. It's sad when you find those that are too far gone to revive.
I hope Tommy, Graham, Jordi, and the others he was close to don't allow that to happen to them.
Tommy with Jordi and Graham, high school graduation...