the kool girls klub

last night i went to a wedding with several members of my high-school past in attendance...it was a beautiful wedding in the episcopal church downtown on roosevelt, then dinner and dancing at the desert botanical gardens. the bride loves orange like i, so everything was orange and wonderful. i saw the notorious mr. britain, my most loved humane letters teacher. he and his 11 children were in attendance. i saw my first headmaster who informed me that his daughter, my classmate, had become a nun. bizarre. i caught up with mothers and brothers and it was great to see where we had all ended up...so far at least. but then, then i went over to my table to find that a valued member of the kool girls klub was to be my table-mate. chelsea and i caught up like adults would do -- which is just funny since we were crazy young girls who did very little grown up things when last we saw one another. we've both been traveling, both still trying to feel like we belong, both yearning to unpack and be settled and yet still longing for those adventures and travels. so we introduced ourselves as women last night. and after the cupcakes and red wine, the assortment of orange candies and my delight with little aurora, the music started. moriah was a beautiful, beaming bride. she danced with her father, a waltz, and i wanted to melt. it was sweet and lovely. the love in the room was inescapable and it pulled on me. how beautiful to see such love, such purity, grace was in the room. i wondered what my wedding day would be like, and i hoped that it would be a "taste and see that the Lord, he is good" kind of day.

the dance floor opened up to regular people and chelsea, jimmy and i made our way out to the dance floor. three members of the kool girls klub reunited. we used to hang out at chelsea's house and make up dances to rap songs, we'd all have a part, all have our moves, and we thought we were awesome. well, all of that came back last night. we danced like mad people. hair swinging, arms flailing, bodies rocking, feet popping madness, and it was amazing. it brought me back to the good ole days, the days of youth and crazy friends and a kind of freedom like, who cares what other people think, cause we're having a lot of fun. we took two breaks the entire night, all of us soaked with sweat and happiness at the end of the night, exhausted and thrilled with how it all turned out. it was a great night.

thank you Abba for dancing madness, for reunions, for growing up, for staying young, for beautiful fairy children, for love, for purity, for goodness in the land of the living, for destroyed prejudices, for the presence of people who pushed me towards greatness when only a child, for the blessing to share love in this life, for orange candy and delicious things, for you.