Woulda, Shoulda

"A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends." Proverbs 16:28

For reasons more than I can explain, while I thoroughly hold dear my memories of high school, I would not repeat them for all the loot on Treasure Island.

What an absolutely divine New York moment...that went underground and well into the evening.  First off, it was 50 degrees and everyone had spring fever...the streets were alive and glistened with the light rain.  Thanks to Facebook, I had another glorious elementary/high school reunion in the heart of the city...15 years later. 

Met an old friend and her husband at Washington Square Park for a Friday night in Manhattan. Upon first embrace, it was so evident we had not missed a beat. Giddy with the company we prattled on for blocks. Sat in a cozy booth at Blue Ribbon Bakery and over a $13 glass of Pinot, we dove in.  Happiness, Heartache, Disease, Death, Baby's Births, Faith, Passions, Drugs, Jobs were all on the conversation docket, but what struck me the most was we talked about each other hearts and minds during the confusing time called Adolescence. 

And instead of letting our true selfs draw our worlds closer, we let our outward appearances and decisions impede on what could have been then, an unbreakable bond through those crazy smoke induced confusing years.  Sitting across from one another with smiles ear to ear thinking, Damn youth, if we only would have known.

The night led us to a restaurant where her sister had been serving for years...

At first I thought she was mistaken. You see I had been to the restaurant already, its a teeny tiny Taco Stand Dive called La Esquina in an old trailer. 

Uh correction, you walk in and go to the Employees Only door where you walk past the doorman, down the stairs, through the kitchen and into the most beautiful old Mexican cavern underground where the sangria is flowing and the music banging.   I was in awe!  

It felt real, it felt honest, it felt effortless.  

I have already mentioned the genuineness I feel here in NY that I have not felt in Atlanta for quite sometime.  A necessary element I've  been craving my whole life. 

To be myself and know I'm getting the same in return. This night was a glimpse of what that would look like?

Are you true blue? If not, why not?