Friends...
old and new
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Do you have a lot of friends? Who do you consider friends? I like to count my fellow choir members as friends, the people I know from theatre my friends, people I’ve known a long time as friends.
But who are my friends, really? Who can I count on if I need something? And who can count on me? Ahh, the field narrows considerably.
The people I can rely on most (and who can rely on me) are the ones I’ve known the longest, though I have some new friends I consider to be in this category as well (they/I just haven’t been tested yet).
Here in Portland, there is one friend who has known me longer than anyone here except my daughter. Her name is Beverly Standish. We met in 1976 when we helped another friend (Kate Kasten) move house. After we got her things moved in, the three of us sat out on Kate’s stoop drinking Miller High Life and singing Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. (Kate and I are still friends too, but she lives in Iowa.) From there, Bev and I went on to attend protests for animal rights together, to write music together, to become life partners for a few years, and to move to Portland, Oregon together.
We have continued to write music together, and to be fast friends. We’ve seen each other through relationships, various physical ills, and how many presidents now? (Carter, Reagan, the first Bush, Clinton, the second Bush, Barack Obama, the orange rapist, Joe Biden, and now the rapist again. We’ve seen each other through jobs, and now retirement -- though neither of us has slowed down much.
Bev is an artist (drawing since she could hold a pencil), a classically trained pianist, a self-trained classical guitarist, a retired music teacher, a music composer, and the creator of Digital Elf Studios. Bev learned computers as soon as computers were available. She is a master of any and all software related to music as well as digital animation.
She taught digital animation to school kids in her own summer camps dedicated to the art. She had recitals as the end of camp, just like a music camp. Except here the kids showed off their works. No one else was doing what she did, she simply saw a need and filled it.
She and I have written lots of different music together: folk, rock, classical, ballads, even an opera.
She is multi-talented, and super generous with her talents. She is an excellent photographer and videographer too.
Bev was raised as an only child from older parents. She learned early how to create her chosen family, and I’m proud to be included. This week was her birthday, and dozens of her friends turned out for the party.
Here’s to old friends, new friends, and the friends we’re yet to make. Here’s to chosen families. Here’s to protesting in order to create a better world.
I’d love to hear from you about your own friendship experiences. Remember to find joy wherever you can. Times are hard right now, so it’s especially important to seek joy every day.
WOW! I'd vote for Bev for President! :-) With all of her skills and talent she could shake-up our sleeping Congress, if nothing else. Makes me smile to think of the two of you writing music together! Thanks for encouraging each of us to find joy at this strange time. I think this is how we keep the spirit of things like joy, beauty, humor (real laugh out loud humor, not that sick stuff) and even caring for one another alive.
One of my dearest friends, I met on a bus. We got in the habit of sitting together and chatting and I asked her if she would like a part time job helping me with receiving and packaging orders. She said yes and worked for me until her husband retired and they moved to another town. We got in the habit of sending letters and cards about 15+ years ago since she is not online. It has been such a nice way to be friends!!! She loves politics (local and federal) and libraries! Reads both fiction and non-fiction almost everyday! She also has an almost photographic memory of our political history and of her daily life!! Thinks nothing of being able to tell me what I was wearing on a day we waited for a certain bus!?! Wonderful gardener, too! We are of course doing what we can to get through this crazy time, by getting on with life, as we note all of the outrageous theft of taxpayers' money and total incompetency at the federal level to rein these crooks in, to say nothing of the Supreme Court's scandalous ignoring of our Constitution and accepting of valuable trips and gifts - (not to say bribes) by very wealthy people with cases before them. - sigh Having even one friend who takes the time to share thought with you, is a wonderful thing! :-)