childhood bff

sometimes things work out perfectly.  in early december i learned that my childhood best friend would be at her parents' house in georgia over christmas.  we-he-he-he-hell....we just happened to be spending some time in the north atlanta area so we were able to see each other!  part of the reason why this is so amazing is because, as you know, we live a 6ish hour plane ride away from the east coast and her family lives a 6ish hour plane ride in the other direction...in london!  the stars aligned for robin and susan.

here we are with the gang.  susan has four, that's right, four beautiful children.  sam, lucy, lauren and ben.  funny thing, the baby was actually named dan by susan and her husband john, but apparently the kids rebelled and named him ben.  i guess susan and john knew they were outnumbered - literally- and named him ben.

here is cashel and the mobile kids.  on the left he's attempting to kiss lauren, she's only two months younger than him.  in the top right he's and lauren (on the right) are playing piano while lucy (on the left - she's three) is bossing them around.  and the bottom right is cashel mesmerized by sam and his game.

i asked susan to describe each of her kids in one word and this is what i got: sam - he's unstoppable, lucy - she's in charge, lauren - she's sweet (ok, i actually don't remember what she said about lucy - sorry susan - but lauren is sweet so i'll go with that), and ben - he's easy.  he's an easy baby and smiles a lot and loves the attention he gets since he doesn't get as much as the others when they were babies. understandably, no?  there is nothing cuter that a three year old girl being bossy with a british accent.  adorable miss lucy.

jason and i were able to spend about four hours with susan and her family.  i was able to see her parents, who were my summer vacation parents and her older sister, joy.  it was so, so great to see them.  jason and john really got along well and i think we all realized that if we lived close together we would see each other all the time.

susan helped me grow up in lots of ways.  we spent at least two weeks together each summer from the age of 5 until about 17.  even when my family stopped going to the beach (holla! cherry grove and the harford motor c) i was invited to go to the beach with them until my parents arrived.  susan was like a sister i never had (along with my cousins, wende, emily and dana).  i love her wittiness and still remember silly ways that she would make me mad.  we once got in a fight because, you know the shampoo by st. ives?  well, i realized there was a long accent mark over the i so i called it st. ives while susan kept arguing that it was st. eeeves.  we got in a big fight over that and i think the whole time susan knew what she was doing - that she was wrong - but just enjoyed seeing me get mad.  we used to write in each others year books which is hilarious because she grew up in new jersey.  one other time she did all she could to convince me that she could feel the earth rotating....while we were in a moving car.  oh susan, thank you for helping me learn how to put in a tampon.  i remember you not letting me out of the bathroom until it was in.  you yelled at me and i thank you.  

i have such fond memories of susan.  we met when we were five running around the motel - literally - we ran into each other and realized we had the same gown on!  we were inseparable from that moment on while at the beach.  here is a picture of little versions of us:

we also had two other fun friends at the beach - megan and kelly.  here's a picture of teenage versions of all of us (yes i am wearing my brothers' frat shirt):

while we all have gone our separate ways, we've all reconnected to come extent thanks to facebook.  maybe some day we can all have a big reunion!

in the meantime, i'll just enjoy the time we got to spend together this christmas.  we chatted and chatted and chatted and could have gone on forever.  we joked about ditching the kids with her parents and the four of us going out for margaritas.  maybe one day down the road.

 lylas susan.