Turns out these friends have more than a birthday in common. They're both Jewish, both teachers and both like the same kinds of books that I do...especially Jennifer Weiner novels. I think they also have both borrowed from the "Melissa library." :)
I met J.B. at Makor (Shabbat dinner program in the city) during the summer of 2002. She was friends with my BFF and we all sat together for a meal. We started talking and realized we had a lot in common. After that, we'd get together outside of Makor. She lived in the city, but I was still going out that way often. She'd also come up to the suburbs. Since I was usually the first (amongst my friends) to get the new Jennifer Weiner novels each year, I'd loan them to her when I was done. (I think they have a permanent place on her bookshelf now. :) ) The following year, I asked her to stand up in my wedding. Around that same time, she met her (now) husband at another Makor dinner. They're a perfect match and I'm really happy for her. We'd go out on double dates after they became serious. My husband and I attended their wedding when I was six months pregnant with my first child. After we moved, we didn't get to stay in touch or see each other as often. We'd invite J.B. and her husband to get together whenever we were in town. Seeing as we only met up in person once a year, I saw her as pregnant in 2009 and then finally met her baby this past summer! She doesn't have as much of an online presence, but I get the latest updates from her husband on Facebook. We try to e-mail every so often. I am glad to see and hear about good things happening in her life and I hope we can continue to stay friends, even if we only talk sporadically.
I met S.O. in May, 2009 when I came to our (now) neighborhood for a Shabbat weekend. She and her husband were friends with our hosts and came over for dinner that Friday night. When I found out that we liked the same authors, we were talking non-stop and even forgot that anyone else was sitting around the table after a while. I saw her again in shul the next day and we chatted for a few minutes. Later, I got her contact information from another mutual friend in the area. When we came down to check out our (now) house for the first time, we stopped by her house before we left and I loaned her some books (from the "Melissa library," of course). She then told me about "Sammy's Hill" (and "Sammy's House"), which I then got all my friends interested in reading, as well. After we moved to the neighborhood, we started getting together more often. She and her husband came over on New Year's Eve to play board games and we were up all night laughing. We had another game night in the future that led to the same result. We try to get together with them whenever possible. This past summer, she and I went to see Jennifer Weiner at a Borders in VA. We spent the whole car ride there and back chatting non-stop. It was a lot of fun! We're very thankful to have both S.O. and her husband as both friends and neighbors.
To both J.B. and S.O....
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