You Gotta Have Friends (in Memphis)

Sometimes people ask us why we stay in Memphis.  And even I, Memphis apologist extraordinaire, have to admit that life in the Bluff City has its issues.  The weather is only nice for about four months out of the year.  It definitely has more than its fair share of crime issues.  And don't get me started on our crazy mayor.  If you ask Josh why we stay, he'll scratch his head, ponder a bit, and then say,

"Because she makes me."

Kidding!  (Kind of.)  Ask me the same question, and I don't even have to hesitate:  it's because some of our best friends in the world are here.  Now, don't get me wrong, we definitely have wonderful friends in other parts of the country (heck, world) too, but as far as friends-per-square-foot, we can't beat Memphis. 

Just two posts ago, you got to meet the "Girls of Hallwood"  who are some of my oldest Memphis friends, from our Rhodes days.  I am so lucky to have two out of three of those wonderful women still living within just a few miles of my front door.  Ours was a bond that was forged through close, continuous proximity to one another for four of our formative adult years, and has been solidified in the ten (ack!!!) years since we graduated.  When we gather now with our brood, I am amazed at how far we have come together.  If I'd never made another friend after leaving Rhodes, I think I'd still feel like Memphis was home because of them.

Yes, I know we've posted this picture (and some of the following) before . . . work with me here.

But, as luck would have it, we have made more friends here.   Some were more like acquaintances at Rhodes, and the friendships have blossomed only in recent years.  Some married into the Rhodes circle.

Some of the friends in this category are sadly under-represented in our photo cache.  Hurry up and have that baby so we'll break out the camera around you more often!

Some we met at our wonderful church and have grown close to through years of sitting together in Sunday School, praying for each other during tough times, and also lots of extra-curricular socializing.

We don't actually take pictures of each other anymore . . . just our adorable kids.

Some we just met because a guy I used to work with thought that his neighbor, a new attorney in town, might like to meet the husband of this girl he used to work with, who was also an attorney, and sure enough, they hit it off and now spend so much time together that their kids fight (and also stick up for each other) like brother and sister.

Some are the wonderful people who have moved into our neighborhood over the past several years and have made  not only Memphis, but Cooper-Young specifically, feel like it might be home for a long time to come.

Some of those neighbors don't have kids yet themselves, but probably feel like they do because of how much time they have to spend taking care of us during all our crises!

And some are so new that you might still call them "friends-of-friends".

But once you've all drunk from the same sprinkler, what's the difference?

I guess some might argue that if we've had no trouble continuing to make new friends in Memphis in the ten years since we graduated from college, what makes us think we would have a problem making them in a new place?  And that is true, I suppose, but on the other hand, why take the chance?