Day 426: Barbara

This post is about my long-time friend, Barbara.

Barbara and I met, in the late 1950’s, after my family moved to this house:

(That photo has appeared in an earlier post, here.)

Here’s another view of that house:

I’m adding that view, for today’s post, because that is, pretty much, what Barbara would see, when she left her house back then (during a specific season which, for now, shall remain nameless).

I’m not sure exactly how old I was when I met Barbara. I was probably about four or five years old. Let’s just say this: I was very young.  And Barbara was born a month after me, so she was even younger!

Here’s the earliest photo I have of Barbara, right now, where you can really see her. The date, written on the back on the photo, is 2/2/1960, so it was my 7th birthday (and Barbara was still 6).

That’s Barbara laughing (on the right), a sight and sound which I cherished then and which I still cherish, to this day.

I have a distant memory of Barbara seeing that photo, many years ago — perhaps when we were roommates in the 1970s —  and not loving it.  I’m not sure if that’s an accurate memory, but — in any case — I hope she likes what I’m showing and writing about her today. If she doesn’t, I’ll do what I always do with my posts — change things until the featured people are happy.

I, personally, like that photo a lot.  Why?  Because, as mentioned before, Barbara is laughing — a beautiful sight. Also, I like to see myself smiling a big smile there, without self-consciousness (about my teeth, for example) or worry of any kind.  Also, everybody else is smiling, too: my mother, my sister, Paul (a family friend and the son of Vic, who — I’m sure — was the photographer), and my father.

And it’s fun for me, right now, to think about why Barbara was laughing and why the rest of us were all smiling, so much, in that photo. I’m guessing this: my father and/or Vic were saying some funny things. That happened a lot, when I was growing up.

Anyway, back to Barbara, in the here and now (my favorite place to be).

And while Barbara isn’t literally with me, now, while I’m typing this … in a way, she really is.

Why do I say that?  Because:

• I saw her, just yesterday, settled in a new, wonderful, and beautiful home.
• We had another one of the kashmillion* great talks** we’ve had over the years.
• I’m very aware that it’s almost her birthday!
• I love her, very much.

Many thanks to Barbara, my family, Vic’s family, old and new friends, people who show their feelings, and to you — of course! — for visiting today.

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* In my on-going efforts to be a truth teller and to give credit where credit is due, I have to say (1) I don’t actually know what number a kashmillion represents, but I know it’s very big and Barbara and I have had so many talks over the years that I’ve lost track of the actual number, although I also want to say that I wish the number was even larger because Barbara is so great to talk to and we don’t see each other as much as both of us would like to and (2) my bf Michael made up that word, not me.

** Among the many topics Barbara and I spoke about yesterday: how she thought I was angry at her last week, which (1) I found quite amazing and hilarious and (2)  gives me the opportunity to link to posts I’ve written about my fear of people being angry at me, including this, this, and this.