I laughed!

Backstory:
Twenty years ago I met some of the most amazing people from all over the world (although most of them were from the USA) in a chatroom. We were all teenagers then. Ranging from 19 to 13. We talked together online for probably 2 years very actively. After that time, some of us decided to meet in person. This became a regular yearly vacation in Cleveland Ohio. (Don't ask why Cleveland because that's a longer story...)
Anyway, there were 4 of us who went every year... I think we went 3 or 4 times. But maybe it was only 2 or 3. It doesn't matter... Years later, 2 of the friends were engaged and getting married. I was a bridesmaid in their 07/07/07 wedding in Tennessee. It was glorious and fun and happy.
Through the years we've added people, roommates, friends, spouses. And we've lost touch for certain periods of time. Somehow, and through the wonderful use of Facebook, we've been able to keep in touch more recently.



So last night I'm talking with the groom from the 07/07/07 wedding. He and I are pretty close. We've always had in depth conversations. And I said to him "We should get a chat room started and invite everyone!" And he started a group on facebook.. and we have been chatting all together for about 24 hours now. I find it amazing and special that after all these years we can still come together and it feels like no time has passed. There are some people that I know better than others, most of them I have met (even if it was just one time, 10  years ago, at the wedding) but I'm comfortable to have a conversation with any of them. And we each have our own relationships while still maintaining this group dynamic. They're all really special people. So why the "I laughed" as the post title. Because I was laughing so hard. Side was hurting... all night long. (like I didn't go to sleep until after 10am)

I may not have seen them in 10 years, but I know these people have my back. I know they are there for me through everything; we've all lived a lot of life and shared a lot of joys and sorrows together. Even when one of our friends passed away, marriages, kids, divorces. We may have been miles and miles apart; but we've each shared the pain of the other.

I feel like I'm not doing this post justice. Last night was the first time in probably 15 years we were all in the same place at the same time. And it was glorious.