The people who come before us

Since I've moved to KW I've started meeting with some friends that are all somehow connected in the camp scene. For me, it started pretty organically- my old roommate Steph, from my undergrad days (and long time friend) and I met up with a couple for beers a couple weeks in a row. This couple is about 10 years older than us, but still connected to the same camp. Needless to say, that couple had talked with another couple about meeting regularly, and voila- we started meeting on Tuesdays for dinner. So for the last two weeks weeks there have been 7 of us that have met and all brought a part of the meal. It has been so good for my sould to sit and eat and drink with people that I respect so much. On Tuesday night we told stories about crazy family members (like, REALLY crazy) and it was just great. The two married couples that are about 10 years older than Steph and I have been friends for a very long time- so it is really cool to be able to witness friendships and marriages in action that have been through a lot and relationships that have lasted decades. One of the guys was telling a story about how back in his student days, he was so poor that he made HOMEMADE yogurt! Sick! (It involves leaving milk on a dryer vent for a few days)- it was a hilarious story, in a gross way- but it struck me today how important stories like that are for me. It is so conforting to know that people have come before me- people have been poor students, young lovers, travellers, had crapy jobs, newly weds, have been unsure where life was going to take them...but they have somehow managed to come out the other side relatively unscathed...and in some cases, have had hilarious stories to tell. We need to hear the stories of those who have come before us- because it lets us know that the future is not something to be feared, because they prove that it is ACTUALLY true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and because it allows us to know that everything will in fact be ok.
I am so very grateful to have people to look up to, that I truly respect. They are most certainly in a different place in life than I am- but they make things like being married, having a house and children not look so freakish...they laugh, drink beers, tell jokes.,..they are normal. And they've already been where I am at- so they have the wisdom of retrospect.
It's a great thing.
It's been beautiful to be a part of a community that has evolved over beers, glasses of wine, stories about cute kids and washing dishes.