Heart Strings

It's a good thing the "strings" that tie our hearts to others are unlimited in their reach. It is an amazingly resilient bond that only gains strength over time. That's why we can see a friend after a long absence and still feel just as close.

Today I got to pull strings, so to speak, in three different directions.

This morning, I met up with my college friend Carrie, whose son was wrestling in a state tournament up in Wausau. Although she and her family live in the Milwaukee area, we just don't get to that neck of the state that often. And when we do, it's usually tied to some event and we are on a schedule. So we do what we can to get together, even it's a wrestling date far from either of our homes.

Since I am now officially "experienced" in wrestling photography, I brought my camera to take pictures of her son Ben and, well, yes, his 3 teammates that also made it to the state JV tournament. It was actually a fun time. I felt pretty official.

Wow! Look at me with a Floor Pass... I can go anywhere. Even sit with the coach at the edge of the mat to get really good pictures! That was admittedly pretty stinkin' cool. Especially since there were matches going on simultaneously on 8 different mats so the chances of seeing everything from the bleachers were minimal.

Here's Ben in one of his matches.

And the proud momma – my fellow RA on the first floor of Angell Hall at UW-La Crosse back in 19XX. You don't really need to know that, do you?

Anyway, we were having fun watching and catching up on life when I got a text from College Boy that his ride back to Platteville was leaving today instead of tomorrow, just to get ahead of the projected winter weather.

That threw me for a loop because I wasn't mentally or emotionally ready to say goodbye. I mean, we really didn't get any one-on-one time with him. Our last family meal was Christmas morning. And so on. So I raced home to get there in time to see him off.

"Can I at least get a picture so I can look at it each day?" I said. Yup, he was accommodating. Probably had some guilt, says wishful-thinking momma. Either way, it was definitely tugging at those tough but tender heart strings. Empty nest equals empty heart.

Didn't have much time to lament since we had dinner plans over in Waupaca. We met up with our friends Scott and Sandy from Green Bay.

Sandy and I decided that when our hubbies make silly bets over college bowl games that require one of them to buy dinner for the other couple, we are the winners. We didn't have to know anything, watch anything. Just order food and drink and be happy.

It was great to see our favorite golf partners in the off-season. Maybe Jim and Scott can bet on something else to bring us together before spring. We'll see.

In the meantime, my heart will remain securely connected to my baby and these special ladies.