Recently, I took a trip to New York City to see my first broadway show ever, Gypsy. What an amazing show! Patti Lupone (of Evita fame in case you are not familiar with broadway) was brilliant, and the rest of the entire cast was spectacular. At the end of the show I even had a chance to go backstage and meet Patti Lupone in person.

Now, that sounds like a pretty fabulous day, doesn’t it? Enjoying a glamorous day in New York City and meeting a broadway legend… Well, that is not what my post is about. It is actually about what led me to New York City in the first place.

In case you didn’t know, my mother is from New York. It was there that she grew up and cultivated lifelong friendships with some pretty fabulous ladies. In  her early 20s, my mother moved far far from home all the way to Florida…and a new life began. Although her friends were far away, they always stayed in touch.  And although life was very different for them all, they always remembered their common bond of friendship.

In today’s day in age, ‘friends’ come and go so easily. You meet at a party, you friend each other on ‘facebook‘ or ‘myspace‘, you don’t call each other, you don’t write, you just see each other in passing and could care less what is really going on in each others’ lives. I grew up with a different understanding of what it means to have friends.

Throughout my life, my mother would always repeat the following line from an old girl scout song, “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” She taught me that while you make new friends in your life, you continue to grow and change with your old ones. You may find moments when your lives take turns and you go down different paths. That does not mean, however, that you have to abandon each other as friends. You just find your common ground again and grow together.

I’ve always considered my best friends to be like another extension of my family. To me, my oldest and dearest friends are like sisters. Sure, we have differences of opinion; and sure, we get angry at each other. But what we’ve also figured out is that no matter how angry we may be at each other, we will always stick by one another.

Now…going back to New York City and the broadway play. That day I met up with all of my mother’s best friends from high school (some of them she has known even longer). I’ve known these women my entire life. So, it was not an awkward get together at all. It was about as much fun hanging out with them as it is hanging out with my own friends. There were laughs, giggles and silly stories flying around. We were all going to see Gypsy and Patti Lupone because my mother and her friends were in the same high school graduating class as Patti. So, for years, they had all been anxious to see her perform on the broadway stage. And in the end, we had a once in a lifetime chance to go backstage and take pictures with Patti. Unfortunately, my mother was unable to join us due unforeseen circumstances.

The best part about this day was not seeing my 1st broadway show or meeting Patti Lupone, it was spending time with some incredible women who were so close to my mother. It was amazing to see how friendships had grown over 30+ years. Conversations may change, but there is always common ground. And I began to see how lucky I am to have the friends that I do.

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