A few weeks ago I went with my closest friends to visit another wonderful friend in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. It's our tradition (more recently, thought of as a divine right) to take a "girls' trip" every Spring, so our families weren't surprised when we disappeared one warm weekend for a few precious days spent eating, drinking and walking around doing nothing. In addition to our monthly dinners and impromptu breakfast meetings, these times together are vital to each of us in different ways. Over the many years that we've known one another our tastes have changed, but our relationships have remained (miraculously) much the same - which is comforting some unidentifiable way.
One of our habits on these trips is to keep a list of all the hilarious (to us) phrases that we mutter as we waste away a few days in each others constant company. These lists (usually 15-20 phrases long) are the best remedy to a bad mood, a back-talking kid, a frustrating job and a litany of other "problems" that might plague one.
On this trip, one of the phrases that entered our lexicon was "...till they saw our faces." Originally meant as a compliment, ie, "Hey, those guys were checking us out....till they saw our [older] faces", it ended up being, "Hey, those guys were checking us out....till they saw our [lined, dry, craggy, droopy-eyed, sorry-ass] faces." This would be even funnier if it weren't true, but...well, time marches on, no? One (20-year old) kid even had the nerve to comment loudly as we walked by in all our giddy glory, "Mommies!", which really sent us into spasms of disbelief (although, in fact, most of us are moms -- some of us many times over).
So you could say we had our ups and downs in Columbus, but nowadays it's those two phrases, "...till they saw our faces!" and "Mommies!" that can bring me to tears (from laughing). Not because they're particularly funny lines, but because it reminds me not to take myself (or anybody else) too seriously. Life is short. Enjoy your face.
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