When I left Illinois to return to Hawaii after 35 years of living on the mainland, they had a loving farewell party for me. Whenever I return to Illinois, we all get together again. It's wonderful. I feel truly blessed to have such supportive, loving teacher friends.
In fact, we still communicate constantly through a group text.
When we made that quick trip back to Illinois in October to attend the funeral for one of my dearest friends, Peggy, I wasn't able to meet with the teacher group. However, just for fun, I dropped off a box of chocolate macadamia nuts with one of my teacher friends to share with the group when they came together again. They texted several photos to me so I could feel part of the event when they had their luncheon and they even tried to do a FaceTime call.
And then a few days later I was surprised with a package.
Judy was the librarian at our school and a treasured friend, just like the others. Here we are together at Halloween 1996 in my classroom.
She sent me a dish towel with snowflake patterns, a package of paper napkins saying "Let it snow!" and packages of hot chocolate mixes. She wanted me to remember what winter was like in the Midwest.
So yes, I really was blessed and so very lucky to have these lifelong friends no matter how far apart we are. And you know what? It's rather chilly these days. Yes, 70 degrees F is chilly for local people in Hawaii. I think we'll have some hot chocolate tomorrow.
POSTSCRIPT 1:
Oh goodness! I got a text message yesterday from my daughter that KC's high school might be calling a Snow Day because they're expecting 8" of snow.
Yikes!
POSTSCRIPT 2:
Good grief! Would you believe it is 58 or less degrees this morning?
This is really rare.
Granted, I know it's going to warm up in another couple of hours, but still... cooold.
Could this be why I slept so well last night? I need to text my teacher group and let them know I'm cold too. 😁
Women make good friendships. We have a major weather event brewing. At least it will be a weekend event this time.
ReplyDeleteSome women! I envy Kay that.
DeleteWe are ready for snow, just not rain.
I don't so much mind the snow as I do the cold. Sunday the high is supposed to be -5F. The low -15F. The feel like temperature, the one I really care about, a balmy -50F! Needless to say, I think I will be spending the day inside... perhaps with some hot chocolate myself.
ReplyDeleteA group of long term friends is a wonderful thing to have; mine are from grade school. And I love the snow they sent you. I have some more if you like, although the Arctic Mass from Canada might be hard to get to the 51st state ... or 50th? This Canadian gets confused. Not about loving Hawai'i, though. We visited once, my daughter and I, and fell in love. Is that spelled right? More Canadian confusion.
ReplyDeletewe have that here, in the area in which i live!! i know so many teaches, my niece is a teacher and they have a great community of teachers, they have fun and they support each other. as women, i think we all miss the support and camaraderie from the woman we work with!! i was a nurse and worked with all women, it was such a great group!!
ReplyDeletewhat a great way to send a friend snow!! 55 degrees here today, but i think we are expecting snow next week. i have thrown out the welcome mat!!
Good for you keeping up with your teaching buddies. There were four of us that bonded while teaching as we were all late bloomers to teaching (ha ha) - it was a second career. While we all lived in MD we got together after retirement though I retired first. Then one moved to NC, another to FL and the third disappeared! Several years later we got word that she'd been arrested with her husband and jailed. That news was already 2 years old. We have no idea what really happened to her to this day. Of the other two, we correspond very sporadically since now I live in NH and don't get to MD regularly like they do to see their adult children.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great group to teach with. Teachers usually are a very close group. I look back wit pleasure on my former colleagues. I'm starting to lose some of them.
ReplyDeleteKay, sounds like you have a great group of friends. Keeping contact through the years is great... and may mean even more as we age. Apparently we're in for some below freezing weather this Sunday and Monday... they're forecasting 8-13 F. Hopefully it won't last too long. We've done what we can for the ferals outside - with blankets, boxes, and heatlamps.
ReplyDeleteWonderful friends and warm memories. I prefer the warm memories to actual snow!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful treat for you, and I bet you felt very good knowing you would not be out in that SNOW. Hope you get to see your dear friends in 3D very soon. It sure means a lot to me to see my teacher friends once a month for lunch. Here's a link to the lunch we had this week--Armenian food. https://www.instagram.com/p/C15hSTkvl6S/
ReplyDeleteOh gosh! You all look wonderful. I've never had Armenian food before. That must have been so much fun.
DeleteHow strange! So glad it worked for you...I felt pretty foolish posting something that didn't go anywhere! I'm glad you got to see us. There were only six of us on Monday. One of the missing women is awaiting heart surgery which she has to have BEFORE she can have a desperately needed hip replacement.
DeleteThat link I just posted does not work. It seems that your comments section won't let me post the link. I've tried various work-arounds, but the link won't work on your comment section.
ReplyDeleteno traditional snow days here in the Kansas City area...kids and teachers work from home on their Ipads..Kids turn in work assignments etc. Teachers with no students have zoom meetings. This way work is done and the school calendar doesn't get lengthened at the end of the year. My grandson, a senior in high school, hasn't minded. He finished his "work" early in the day and gets the rest off!! The district calls it AMI - alternative method of instruction
ReplyDeleteI think Tif said they'd be doing remote learning today too.
DeleteThat is cold weather for Hawaii! We have 20s and teens for a few days which is chilly for us. But we just got a dusting of snow, whew! I'm still close to my teacher group and love getting together with them monthly for Happy Hour.
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky to have these treasured lifelong friends Kay!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, we are shivering here with this cold weather in the 60's! The worst part of visiting when the weather is cold are the bathrooms. That first burst of shower water while I am standing there naked waiting for the water to heat up is not fun. And sitting on a cold toilet seat makes me want to jump up!
ReplyDeleteThat's right Kay! We always sleep with windows open but have not been able to do it this week. It's just been too darn cold here in Honolulu! Fortunately, we do not have to face the dangerous winter conditions people are experiencing on the continent. I always enjoy reading about your teacher friends. What a blessing to have a group like that! Wishing you folks a peaceful and pleasant weekend. Aloha from town side
ReplyDeleteThat sounds cold for Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteIt's turned a lot colder here in the UK.
Have a good weekend.
All the best Jan
Please send your 58 degrees to K.C. It is now 11 in mid-afternoon, with a wind chill of -6. It's supposed to be even colder over the weekend. Kansas City metro has now had 3 days this week for snow days. Hot chocolate is even better with marshmallows and raspberry schnapps. You could pretend you're at the top of one of Hawaii's snowy volcanoes, eh? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteYikes! -6 is horrible! Tif says it's still not snowing badly where she is. Buuuut... it's not over yet. Other friends in Illinois got a ton from what they're texting me.
DeleteI guess cold is relative. For us here in Seattle it is very cold, holding steady at 18 degrees F, but colder tonight. That is nothing compared to the parts of the coundty in the below zero temps.
ReplyDeleteIt's a real accomplishment for old friends to remain together, especially virtually, for so many years. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is cold right now, even in Hawaii, it seems! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks to the thermometer showing both Celsius and Fahrenheit, now I understand clearly how 58 F feels. I often must calculate between C and F. Now it’s 5C here; the highest was 11 and dropping to 1.
ReplyDeleteYoko
How lovely Kay, such a sweet group of loving friends and such a thoughtful gift. We've been watching the Sony Open at the Waialae Country Club on Oahu today. It made me wish we were there as a few snowflakes floated down. They stopped after 10 minutes but we will be getting more on Tuesday. I hope your daughter doesn't get the expected 8 inches. I'm wondering how much we are going to get. I'll have the hot chocolate going :) Blogging friends in Florida are also experiencing colder than normal weather.
ReplyDelete