Laughter and Distance

In an almost surreal turn of events, we ended a long busy day by meeting friends who used to be neighbors to go to the theater. The theater, all 15 of us, including children ranging from 6 to 15, quite grown since the oldest of them were neighbor playmates.

I could talk about the show (which, by the way, had me laughing so hard, my face still hurts). But as one of my daughters pondered on our ride home how things would have been had we all remained neighbors, that quickly became the focus of my thoughts.
 
At the age of three, my daughter pointed to a girl in the park and said she wanted to play with "that girl," a child who, at the time, was a year younger and barely spoke. But from that day, a friendship was born that has extended over time--and distance. We are the only ones left in the neighborhood we all shared. And this friendship is one between kids and between mothers, because along the way, the mom of "that girl" became one of my own best friends, even now that the friendship consists mainly of phone calls, emails, and time to time visits. It is one of a few friendships in my life that has lasted despite distance and changing circumstances. Neighbor friendships may be easy to maintain. Long distance ones, at least for me, not so much.
 
So, when my daughter wondered what it would have been like if "that girl" were still living here, I couldn't help wondering too. But as with so many things in our lives that change, we can't really know what would have been. We can only do our best with what is. Which, in this case, means more phone calls and emails, and perhaps a little more effort to bridge the distance. And a whole lot of gratitude that the friendship can actually withstand that distance.

Tonight, my family and I went to a show that made me laugh so hard my face hurt.

And, even better, our friends were with us to share it.