Lunch Bunch

Over the past six months, the highlight of my workday has become the time I spend in the teachers lounge with a small group of women I affectionately call my lunch bunch.  For all outside appearances, other than believing in the same God and working at the same place, we don’t seem to have much in common however, over time, we have found common threads that have somehow woven our lives together.  We talk about our families, the struggles, the laughter, the highlights and of course the lowlights.  We commiserate about the challenges of our work place, the gossip we have heard and the truths we have come to learn.  We discuss shoes, fashion, food and diets.  We share stories and keep each other up to date about the goings on of our mutual friends.  Most of all though, we laugh.  We laugh A LOT. 

After my lunch today (in actuality it was last week.  I started writing this post several days ago) I had to leave campus to run a few work errands.  I am so incredibly busy at work these days and I had originally planned to use my lunchtime to run the errands.  As I was driving to my appointment I was thinking back about lunch and was so happy that I decided take time for lunch with friends before continuing on in my day. It is so easy to get caught up in “catching up.”  In our efforts and attempts of getting ourselves organized, we miss out on the good things that are actually the fuel that keep us going.  During the week, it is my “Lunch Bunch” that keeps me going.  In the big picture of life, it is the time I carve out with friends and family that keep me going.  Whether it be a few moments of shared laughter and catching up or hours of gossip and reminiscing, the time spent with friends and family are the very thing that keep me grounded and remind me of what is important in life.   I took some time today to go through my photo library.  I could have spent hours, days, going through the memories.  Long story short…friends and family are the common threads that weave the blanket we take comfort in and snuggle around our bodies when times are hard.  I offer you this…take the blanket and wrap it around yourself when times are good and enjoy, embrace, make time for and cherish the moments that you can spend with friends and family when times are good.