“Send me your digits, ladies! I lost all my contacts!” the
one dressed in pink yelled out. The
entire fast food restaurant now knew that she had dropped her phone in the
toilet and had to get a new one. We knew
that she wasn’t that sad about the whole thing because her new phone was
covered in crystals and that made her feel rich and fancy. All of her friends pulled out their phones. If I was their mother I would have told them
to quiet down. The five of them had not stopped talking since
they entered the restaurant.
They could have been
17 years old.
The one in the flowered shirt pulled a lipstick out of her
Coach handbag. She lamented the fact
that Macy’s no longer carried her favorite shade. She bought the last 4 they had of Lancôme
Amber Spice. It matched the blazer she
liked to wear back when she had to go court.
That blazer intimidated the prosecution she said, laughing. One friend sighed loudly and said she
couldn’t remember the last time she wore a blazer. She knew it was before her kids were born and
that was years ago. Another friend
laughed and said, “Yeah, my kids sucked the life right out of me. But God bless them, they are so wonderful.” They all nodded in agreement.
They could have been 34 years old.
“Who wanted salsa?” said the one wearing the neon orange
Nike Free shoes. She began distributing the little plastic cups of hot sauce to
the entire table. She didn’t take any
for herself. The other ladies reminded
her that she grew up in Texas and probably drank hot sauce from her baby
bottle. They hounded her, “What's the
matter? Why didn’t you take any hot
sauce?” She reached into her coat pocket
and pulled out a small bottle of pills. ”My doctor says I have reflux. I have to take these pills for awhile and
knock off the hot sauce and a few other things.
I hate it. It makes me feel so
old.” Between the five of them the
restaurant learned there were two acid reflux cases, one diabetic case, two
high blood pressure cases and one friend who still needed a little help from
her happy pills.
They could have been
56 years old.
As the ladies munched on Mexican food, the one with the
monogrammed LL Bean canvas totebag threw her hands in the air. “Oh! I almost forgot! I brought pictures of Frank and me on our
cruise. Who would like to see them?” She
reached in the bag and pulled them out.
One friend wiped her hands on a napkin and looked through the
pictures. She shook her head and
lamented, “That’s what I miss the most about not having my John with me
anymore. We enjoyed our trips so much.”
The LL Bean lady nodded her head, “Yes, it’s so sad. I’ve been to two funerals in the last month
alone.” And for the first time since
they entered the restaurant the ladies were silent.
They could have been 73 years old.
The restaurant watched as the one with the cane got up to
leave. The ladies asked her how her new hip was feeling. “It’s doing pretty good. I can do almost
everything for myself now. My doctor is
mad at me though because I can’t seem to keep any weight on. Do you know how many years I wished I was
skinny? Now I finally get there and they
tell me it’s a problem!” The ladies
laughed. One patted her belly and told
the restaurant she had NEVER had that problem.
Another said the only time she lost weight was when she was in the
hospital for her gall bladder surgery. That hospital food was so bad she filed
three official complaints-one for bad breakfasts, one for bad lunches and one
for bad dinners. All the ladies laughed
and accused her of officially being a cantankerous old woman now.
They could have been 85 years old.
The ladies huddled outside the restaurant. Their arms were around each other as they
said their goodbyes. As I walked to my
car I heard the one in pink declare to the group, “With Rachel and Donna gone
we may no longer be the Sensational Seven but we can still be the Fantastic
Five. So until next month’s lunch
ladies! I love you all.”
The one in pink grabbed the arm of the one in the flowered
shirt and they began their walk to the bus stop. The one with the LL Bean canvas bag helped
the one with the cane onto the shuttle bus that had just arrived from
Farrington Court Senior Living Center. They sat together in the 2nd
seat back on the right hand side. And the one in the neon
orange Nike Free shoes climbed into a 1987 Chevy Caprice and drove herself
home.
Check This Out!
One of my favorite books lately is Eat & Run by Scott Jurek. Jurek is a vegan ultramarathon runner. He is considered by many to be the greatest ultramarathoner ever. In Eat & Run, Jurek comes across as a genuinely nice person. While many of his stories center on running and his vegan diet, much of his inspiration can be applied to every single day of your life.
2 comments:
My mom has friends like this! They've been friends for 43 years now.
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