When we all met in Alaska in 2015 on a Road Scholar trip and decided to re-unite every year at a mutually acceptable location, I suspect few of the sixteen of us would have predicted we'd still be doing so in 2025. Our time together this past week at Chautauqua Institution marked our 9th reunion. The only year we were forced to skip was 2020, when Covid paralyzed the world. The fellowship of this group has been one of the highlights of my life over this past decade. What has been a highlight of your life between 2015-2025?
Not counting when we met in Alaska, we've now visited seven U.S. states together stretching from Maine to Washington; our only duplicates have been Colorado and New York. There's a nice symmetry there because our homes stretch from Vermont to Washington and also encompass seven different states. And our face-to-face book discussion this year - The Serviceberry (Robin Wall-Kimmerer) - was also lucky number seven*, although two of those discussions were face-to-face ZOOM-style during Covid. This year, with just six of us at Chautauqua, book discussion #7* was a hybrid = six of us on site/seven of us on a screen. Didn't matter; it was, as always, a rich discussion.
(* We also did something really cool between reunion #5 (Acadia National Park in Maine) and #6 (Ghost Ranch in Arizona), i.e., a book discussion via U.S. mail. Over that year, each of us wrote our impressions into a single copy of The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes), which was circulated across the U.S., then all sixteen comments were compiled into a Word document, sent to everyone. Doing a "book discussion" in that fashion felt natural to people old enough to remember pen pals. Apologies to readers too young to remember pen pals, the spindles in the center of 45 RPM records, asking others for directions, etc.)
Given our respective ages when we met, the start of our second decade has already delivered predictable events. In May, we lost our master puzzler. Over the eight reunions I spent with her, her unfailing grace never ceased to soothe and ground me. On our second night in Chautauqua, the remaining fifteen of us - led by her devoted husband of sixty years - celebrated her life as a full group, thanks to ZOOM. Because of that celebration I now know her better and my love for every person in this group of people has further deepened. I'm grateful beyond measure for these later-in-life soulmates.
Reflections From The Bell Curve: Life Is a Series of Hellos and Goodbyes
What a gift to have found such a wonderful group of like-minded people! You are indeed fortunate. And, I am so glad you chose The Serviceberry! Robin is a beautiful writer which I already realized when we knew each other in the 70's in Rochester, NY.
ReplyDeleteInes; A gift indeed. Thanks for the comment. "The Serviceberry" fit this group like a glove.
DeleteHi Pat..your summary of our few days together was perfect. Chautauqua was magical in so many ways and our zoom calls beyond special. All the memories of our late member and all of her husband’s presentation, though heart- breaking were priceless.
ReplyDeleteAnd the “gifts” from our Serviceberry book club zoom were fabulous.
I’m sad we were down to 6 in person this year but it indeed gave us the opportunity to refine and strengthen our relationships, as well as adding new depth to our loving each other more. And the courses we took and shared with each other, the amazing food, nature walks, conversations with each other were as rich and fulfilling as always.
Whatever our next steps, I hope we never lose contact because these friendships are so powerful and challenge me intellectually in ways many of my other friends do not.
Jane; Thanks for the comment, kind feedback about my post, and most significantly, your friendship. You are important to me.
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