When I started thinking about beginning my new series of lunch blogs, it wasn’t very hard to select this person. She and I are twins in a very unique and wonderful way. We both became mothers on the exact same day, the exact same year and only about 11 hours apart. My son was born before her daughter. If you haven’t guessed, those two find the most fun reasons for a competition.

As a matter of fact, competition for our children is quite natural. I met Liz probably about 8 or so years ago when our kids were on the club swim team together. Over the years we’ve become friends watching our kids swim together in various formats: club team, summer team and high school.

Her oldest Abby is like a big sister to my younger daughter. One of our still favorite memories is when her daughter was turning maybe 11 or 12. My then 10 year-old daughter was invited to the sleepover birthday party. My daughter still talks about that time when the ‘big girls’ invited her to stay with them. It is the stuff of memories over the years.

Usually when we get together, likely over a glass of wine, we end up talking about books and education. I admire Liz. Her profession is an elementary school teacher. Something I was never cut out to do. She is passionate and energetic. She is everything that learning minds need. I have always felt that every student deserves an advocate who is dedicated and passionate about teaching a child no matter their learning abilities. That is Liz.

Liz and I are a part of an all-female fantasy football league. The Grapes & Gridiron group has been in existence for some time. I had the opportunity to join the ladies about two years ago. It is a fantastic time to talk football and find yet another perfect excuse to drink wine. As Liz knows all too well and I am learning – a healthy team is the key to success.

I was excited that we had the chance to meet for lunch. It isn’t easy to connect with my teacher friends. Plus, once school let out, Liz and I were both knee-deep in senior year festivities and celebrations. To say we were both busy, is an understatement.

We seized the opportunity to sit out on the restaurant’s patio for what was promising to be a lovely warm day in the Pacific Northwest. Side note: Summer went MIA for a period of time. I believe she has found her way back to the area. Hurray!

A great deal of our conversation focused on our next big adventure – being parents to college kids! Again, she and her husband Justin are our twins – we are learning the ropes as we go. It really is no different from that fateful first day we each held our newborn babies. While we will miss our now adult children terribly, we know the adventures that await them are tremendous. The world is their oyster and we get a front row seat.

Like the pseudo-twins that they are, both her daughter and my son will be studying engineering. While each will be in different disciplines, it is no surprise they both chose these fields. The two of them have been taking most of their classes together since middle school. While they will be attending separate colleges, I am certain they will still connect in some way to figure out a math problem or calculation.

Like the seeds from a dandelion, our children and their friends will begin to scatter to the wind. I enjoyed talking about different mutual friends and what their children will be doing post-high school. Liz and I get to watch from perhaps a few rows back, as our friends’ children begin to form their own dreams and make them come true. Life can be truly magical in some moments.

Our younger children are about 8 months apart in age and a year apart in school. I enjoy listening to the stories about her son playing basketball. Ryan is very passionate and active playing in high school or on what I equate to a club team. There is probably a more proper term, I wouldn’t know as my life has revolved around the swimming pool.

The common theme with a lot of our friends focuses on what is next for the collective us as the nest will be empty sooner than we realize. From what Liz and I have observed, there is a unanimous excitement for what our futures hold. During lunch, we talked about travel and retirement, of possibly living somewhere else. I believe we both take great pleasure to look around and see our friends dream of these future moments. This is almost our time again with our husbands.

There is something truly magical about mine and Liz’s friendship or should I say our twinship? (wink) When I look at Liz, I see the reflection of one of the most important days in my life. We both understand what it meant to hold our slippery wonders for the first time on that precise fateful day. We both share that on the same day the universe cried out with joy and saw fit that our lives would one day be connected.

My hope is that you have someone like Liz in your life. A person that “twins” with you in a wonderful way. A person who shares a life changing moment on the exact same day you did. Someone who is a constant reminder that the world is a fantastically mysterious place.

Until next week…

Peace. Love and Rock n Roll…