I have been blessed through the years to have an abundance of friends. When I was in Girl Scouts many years ago, I learned a sweet song with lyrics that describe friendship:
Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, but the other gold.
I love making new friends. They are silver and I'm not just talking about the color of their hair, but their value. There's another saying about friendship, an Irish Proverb:
There are good ships and wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, may they always be.
But some friendships are simply unique. They are golden in their value. One golden friend has been my BFF since fifth grade. We laughed back then. We told each other secrets that no one else knew. We went our own way after high school, she moved to Germany and then Ohio, but we reconnected later and have seen each other on a semi-regular basis. We still laugh. We still tell each other secrets that no one else knows.
Another golden friend visited me this summer for a two-week stay. We did have some fun!!
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| With my friend Sara |
One thing I convinced her into doing was a recording of our friendship. We went to a studio at the HUB, the Hudson Uptown Building and spent a little time with each other and a microphone. We did this courtesy of the Mitford Museum has developed its own StoryCorps program. Read what they say in their introduction:
Our mission: to help us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all — one story at a time.
Isn't that a grand aspiration! They are actually preserving history by recording people's stories. I've been trained to run the recording equipment, but I wanted to be on the speaking end of the process to see what it was all about. So when Sara showed up, I announced to her that we were going to record a bit about our friendship. This recording is now with the Mitford Museum's collection. The final product is at the Library of Congress Folk Life Center, and it is online at the Mitford Museum's site!!! Click on this link to check it out. Okay, so you might find a little TMI while you are there, but you will get to know what a deep friendship is all about.
While you are there, check out the other recordings. I ran the equipment for the two Patterson School selections. They were in connection with the fly fishing books I wrote. The interviewer, Alen Baker, is working with the Patterson School Foundation to develop a fly fishing exhibit at the school.
For those of you who are interested in preserving stories from your past, come on down! Bring someone near and dear to you. It's a simple process, loads of fun, and precious to those who listen for years to come.
Catch of the day,
Gretchen
