As Promised.
When I took the job, I had this thought.
You see, at noon today a thing is happening. It is the same thing that has happened for almost 5 years, and I didn’t want it to pass unremarked.
At 5 minutes to noon, Kuri and I left our desks, at 2 different companies, in 2 different office towers, and we walked to a coffee shop. Sometimes we catch up to each other, and sometimes we meet each other there.
We order more or less the same thing, and we sit in the same chairs. The shop has changed, indeed we have gone to 3 different coffee shops over the years, but the the idea, well it hasn’t changed.
We stop what we are doing and we grab our knitting, and twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, we meet for lunch and we knit.
We knit, in our suits. We talk. Sometimes about politics, sometimes about life. We have met through the storms of job changes, the failure of a relationship, the death of a child, struggles and sorrows, joys and celebrations.
We meet.
And I didn’t want it to pass unremarked. It is a wholly remarkable thing, this idea of meeting twice a week for lunch and knitting. In a world that is transient and changing and so often illusory, we have managed a remarkable thing.
And I wanted to say this – I don’t quite have the words, but I wanted to say thank you. For five years of listening and conversation and forcing me to think about things a little differently. For asking good questions and for talking about serious things.
Thank you for being such a very good friend.
I suspect that Tuesdays and Thursdays will not be the same with the new job. But 5 years of good memories with a wonderful friend – you are both very lucky.
That’s a wonderful thing to have with a friend.
I miss an old co-worker who didn’t transition with us to Ohio. We would do ‘off-sites’, what we call meetings off base. They started when I came back to work after Ronan passed. The last one we took was about a year ago to the date. We sat there with coffee and unloaded all the bad. It was so nice to have that outlet. I miss that. And him.
It’s been a very rewarding ritual. I’m so glad you insisted upon knitting outside the office so many years ago. 🙂
A lovely tradition, worth continuing. You’ll just have to find a new time & maybe place for your knitting meetups.
I, too, hope that you find a way to piece an old ritual back into your new job. It sounds as if it is an important ritual. To the two of you.
I’m hoping that you two wool-crazed ladies can find some way to keep up meeting over needles and caffeine. Though, it sounds rather ominous in those terms.
There’s certainly something to be said for good friends!