Thursday, September 2, 2010

An Evening with Friends

Every summer, my UBC friends get together for lunch and catch up on summer plans and life in general. This year, life got busy for all of us and our annual summer lunch, and our lunch became a dinner. It was great, just like we had seen each other last week or yesterday, we fell into conversation.

We are all teachers, in some capacity or another, whether it be a teacher to our children, or in a classroom. Some have been doing the same job for many years, and others jobs change year to year. The funny thing is, even though we are all teachers and that is what brought us together at UBC, 10 years ago, it is not what keeps us together now. We were, at that table, a group of old friends who were catching up on lost time. We laughed, shared memories and talked about hopes for the future, and the only time we talked about teaching was in passing.

These people became my colleagues 10 years ago when we were put into a group called the "Langley Cohort" but over that year of shared experiences, we became friends and we've come to care for each other. They are my friends, for better and for worse, and are forever a part of my life. They've been to and in my wedding, god parent to my daughter and their children are friends with my children. Who would have thought that 10 years ago when I walked into that English classroom, that my life would be so richly changed.

To my fellow UBC Langley Cohort friends, I thank you for always being there and to Karleigh, for making me drive in Vancouver to school and pushing me gently out of my comfort zone. I love you guys!