When Thelma Met Louise

It's been a month since I returned from San Francisco, and I still haven't written about the people portion of my trip. Funny since that was the most important part. Meeting friends was the real reason for the trip. I think I haven't written about meeting blogging friends because I hold that experience so close to my heart. The relationships we formed feel far too precious to write about casually. I feel like my "blog camp" friends deserve a trumpeting fanfare, a parade with them waving from the back of a cherry red convertible. They should, at the least, be showered in confetti and gifts. All I have are words. Not enough. Not nearly enough.
This picture, taken by an obliging stranger, is my favorite of the entire trip. Look at us. See how much we enjoy each other? It's all right there, in our faces. Real affection, laughter, kinship.

These pictures are of Robin and I. Our SF pals are much too camera shy for these posts. But, the kinship exists with them as well. How could it not? We laughed until our sides ached. We walked until we needed foot reflexology. We took more pictures than you can imagine. We inspired and challenged each other. Most of all, we talked. We talked about goals, about our pasts, about our passions, about old hurts and new joys. We were real. We connected. We looked deeply at each other. We saw each other. And we liked what we saw.

Dutchbaby and I met the most wonderful couple on the beach. They were both in grad school, and were building their first sandcastle. Those two were delightful, so full of life they fairly sparkled. As we talked DB mentioned that we were blogging friends that had only met the day before. Our new friends were shocked. The girl said,"Really? I just knew you two were lifelong friends." My answer? "We are. It just goes forward instead of back." And that's it. Those two sentences sum it up. When you meet a blog friend, when you spend time together, you become lifelong friends - going forward.