You are only young twice

My friend, Sue Trembley, came to New Orleans Friday and our lives were transformed into those of 2 teenagers escaping the house for the first time! Sue and I met in the first grade. We shared the same catholisizing education, developed similar souls and retain the same scars from growing up in a small town in a big family. ( not to mention having the same name) Having spent most of our school years plotting our escape, we later spent a decade of our adult lives returning home! We put a lot of water (and pink Catawba, tango, Genny 12 horse ale and assorted tobacco products) under that bridge that divided our towns and made an infamous name for ourselves: The Suesters! Oh, but marriage and children, Jobs and opportunities straightened the wrinkles in our colorful quilts and it was amazing to kick off those blankets for a couple of days and just be 16 again. I have not laughed with this much enthusiasm in 20 years. I also can't explain what , exactly, made everything so funny. The Carthage police department had me in stitches at the mere mention of it, My side split open when we attempted to talk about a broken window at the school that I dared a certain someone to kick, and I am still hysterical about why Mrs. O'Brien (our 4th grade teacher) did not like Sue. ( Sue knows what I said) Anyway, I just want to tell you that it is possible to go backwards in time for a little while with someone who was really back there with you and I want to remind you that if you let these friends slip away too long you will never know what I am talking about. This weekend was our emotional face lift, soul rejuvenation and a derm abrasion on the jagged memories that need to be erased. Thanks Sue, I love you