Bliss
Bliss.
This is how we roll on a Girls' Trip. When I told people that I was going on a getaway with my Aggie Soul Sistas, Emily and Tracie, they asked, "So what are your plans? What are you going to do?" And the answer was always, "NOTHING. That's the plan."
There are no agendas. There are no expectations. When we get together, whether it be in the Hill Country, Houston, Fredericksburg, or Forney, there is rarely a plan (unless it involves a tattoo). We just let life lead us where it may. Because here's the thing--we NEVER get to do that the other 363 days of the year. It's the one time that we allow ourselves to revert back to our college days. We aren't Mom, Chef, Wife, Librarian. We are just Aim, Em, and T. It's the much-needed time to take a deep breath and JUST BE with our Besties.
Bliss.
We started this tradition in 1997 with a trip to Fredericksburg (and a stop in Luckenbach to pay homage to Waylon, Willie, and the Boys, of course).
Our trips were less frequent after graduation because life got in the way, but we managed to stay connected and rendezvous to recharge and refresh our friendship between the weddings and the babies and the moves across the globe.
This trip was low-key compared to last year's Epic Tattoo Event. We didn't get any ink to immortalize anything special. It was just three days of us--a lot of talking, a lot of porching, a lot of laughing.
Bliss.
We stayed at a place with a perfect porch called Shepherd's Rest.
We found a fantastic restaurant in Wimberley called The Leaning Pear. We drank pre-dinner champagne on the balcony overlooking wooded hills and watched a family of deer frolic (Yes, they actually frolicked).
It's impossible to "do nothing" so we did do something: We went to San Marcos for our obligatory shopping trip to the outlets. We saw The Fault in our Stars, and we all cried ourselves into a headache. We had a Mandatory Pajama Day that meant we didn't leave the house except to go into town for dinner that night (we put on clothes but did not take showers. That's us--living on the edge.) We read, napped, talked, watched HGTV, rewind and repeat. We all agreed that Pajama Day will henceforth be mandated for all future Girls' Trips.
I ceremoniously handed the first 113 pages of "THE BOOK" to Em and T, my "beta readers," who I trust to not tell me that my baby is ugly. I did some writing on the book, and I was so inspired by the rest and relaxation that I had a major breakthrough. Recalibration with my Besties is good for my writing soul.
On our final night together, we went into town for Mexican and then decided to Red Box it. However, the machine was broken, which was the only Red Box in Wimberley. So we went back to our porch, poured some wine, and watched the sunset.
As we sat on the porch, a thunderstorm blew in, so we relished the sound of the rain rattling on the tin roof. We decided to make a playlist of our favorite songs from our college days, and I called the playlist "2800 Longmire #51" after our beloved bungalow in Aggieland. Thanks to Spotify, this Epic Playlist includes 51 songs that can be called "The Soundtrack of a Beautiful Friendship." At one point we belted out "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" by David Allen Coe, a standard at Aggie weddings just like "The War Hym." It's a good thing the rain drowned out our voices.
Our friendship can be summed up in the wise words of our fellow Ag Robert Earl Keen: "The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends." We like to party and by party I mean stay in our pajamas, and take naps, and watch hours of HGTV, and sit on the porch, cackling deep into the Texas night.
Bliss.
Okay, so maybe our definition of "party" has changed over the years, but one thing remains the same--our road still goes on forever. There's been many bumps on our road--geography, career changes, kids, loss, illness, heartbreak. Through it all, our roads have not veered away from one other, and I don't think they ever will. We realize that we possess a precious gift--a friendship that has lasted over twenty years on the hard road of life. The key that keeps us going is that we make time for each other. Even though it's only a few days here and there carved out of the year, our precious time together is a priority, a necessity for our souls. Technology sustains us the rest of the days--text messages and voicemails keep us connected. But when we come together on a porch, we revert back to us--Aim, Em, T. Just us. Refreshed. Recalibrated. Recharged.
Ready to face the road again.
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