Adventures with Victoria

My friend Victoria and I spent part of the last weekend of July together. After I arrived at her apartment, I looked at her bookshelves, and she explained that the only reason that the Twilight books are still there is because they're a complete set and look nice on the shelf. When I said that I had never read Twilight, she was shocked that I avoided the defining literary experience of our generation, and dramatically read excerpts and explained the plot to me. I giggled and snorted hysterically. After that, I logged into Google Documents on her laptop and read aloud the planning document for the Boxcar Children/Twilight parody that other friends, my sister, and I worked on years ago. (I once wrote about it here.) Victoria especially liked the parodied back cover: "One warm night, four children stood in front of a bakery. No one knew them. No one knew where they had come from. Suddenly, they saw a pair of fangs glistening in the moonlight!"

We talked about and shared parts of other old writing projects, which included an epic poem which she and a high school friend wrote about another friend falling in love with a merman. Later, we watched half of Howl's Moving Castle, and then we went to bed. The next morning, we went to church. Victoria's congregation meets at a historic theater, and it was such an amazing place to explore. Worship was great, and the sermon was exactly what I needed to hear. I appreciated the reminder from the Parable of the Talents that the master says "Well done, good and faithful servant" based on obedience, not on measures of quantifiable success. "God does not compare you to other people, but to the you He created you to be."

 The weather was radiant, and perfect for the planned church picnic.

 Before we went back to her apartment, 

Victoria and I walked through the city for her to get coffee.

This made me giggle. 

We went back to her apartment and spent some more time together, and then I went home. It was a lovely weekend, and I'm grateful for the memories we made. Back when we were friends in middle school and high school, I never knew to hope that we'd spend a weekend together in 2017. It is so special to discover how friendships can survive interruptions and pick up in new stages of life.