Geese Louise life has been going so relatively well lately; even with cars needing repairs, cops giving speeding tickets and professors heaping on work, that I can almost forget what my life used to look like not too long ago.  It helps to have friends who you share your journey with and to swap stories about all the many times that we’d been miraculously spared.  I often say that there is a whole fleet of angels out there who have earned their wings keeping me alive and well. I believe it’s a very good idea to share your stories with friends who can store them away like memory cards for the future.  I may not remember going swimming in the quarry with my husband (off of 183) many years ago but I do remember my friend’s stories so that I can re-tell them if they forget (like the color of my friend Bob’s sweatpants that he wore when he left Paris in the 90’s were red).

It helps to have friends who can laugh with me (and not at me as well). Like my friend Jo who laughs at my sheer little willful self at 23 when upon waking up in the middle of the night from being bitten by fleas, stormed off to the porch, grabbed a can of RAID and sprayed it all in my bed and then went back to sleep. And I wondered why I could never get pregnant? Hmmmm.  But it’s stories like these that explain the state of mind that I used to be in all the time when I made some really poor choices.

Today over lunch two of my friends and me shared some of the crazy hair brained stories of our past laughing our heads off and at the same time feeling very grateful that we’d made it through our twenties in one piece.  I don’t know why some of us make it through times like these and others don’t, but I do know that I recognize the blessing just the same.

I also have friends who remember the good times too (thinking of my college roommate Deborah).  I’m glad someone remembers some positive times during the chaos as well.  I can surely remember good times for them.  I’ll never forget a weekend party during the summer after my freshman year in college back in 77 when we all ended up in the country and some of the guys spread out these big colored parachutes on the fields that we sat on, drank wine and gazed up at the stars.   I don’t remember where we had come from or where we ended up afterward but I do remember the parachutes and the stars.

When I called up my friend Kat to wish her a Happy 60th Birthday on Friday, we had a big love fest of gratitude of all that we’ve shared with each other over the past decade.  One of the memories she especially loves of me is the time I called her up in all earnest and most passionate about pulling together a fantastic Veteran’s Day Parade complete with USAF Phantom Jets flying over the Austin State Capitol following the path of Congress Avenue down to the river (and of course splitting off and flying in opposite directions!).  I had shared with her that I realized my idea might be a little bit extravagant when I noticed a friend’s eyes glazing over upon telling her — especially during the part about the jets.  Kat loves my crazy ideas like this because she thinks big like this too.  And we can laugh with each other at our sheer audacity!

I love the line in AA’s 9th step Promises that says, “we will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it” because like many storytelling traditions from around the world, it is useful to share our stories from the past so that others can see that we definitely put our pants on one leg at a time (or sometimes two legs at a time when we’re not all there) so that they can find hope in knowing how far we’ve been able to come.

Who are you sharing your stories with today?