Five women from our Lilith Salon discussion group met last night to discuss the article “Unforgettable Friendships” from the Winter 2010-2011 edition of Lilith magazine.
Here is the link to the article:
The article is comprised of essays by four women with different reflections on female friendships which each is currently in, or has been involved. There were certain commonalities between the experiences, including in three cases where the women met and became friends at summer camp during their teenage years.
In the first essay “Balm in Gilead” by Marcia Falk, the friendship between Marcia and Beth was strengthened by visits to Beth’s 200-acre family tree farm in the Catskill mountains, called “Gilead”, which became a life-long special place of retreat. Then, after their college years the two friends lives branched in opposite directions, including geographically, and they saw each other only sporadically. They reconnected into their greatest closeness at the time of Beth’s final illness and goodbye.
The second essay “Click: Ignore” by Alice Alexious tells of a difficult childhood friendship where one person was unsupportive and in fact somewhat tormenting, resulting in the relationship being terminated. The essay begins with Alice opening an email message from this former friend who found her on “Facebook” inviting her to correspond. Alice relives those childhood memories and has to decide whether or not to answer this email.
One of the discussion participants reflected on how our 50-60s generation is now reconnecting with lost friends from the past through internet and social media. But she noted that her daughter and her long term friends are regularly updating each other on their lives through social media, forming an ongoing connection regardless of geography, so such friends will never be "lost".
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