By Judith Weeks-Padgett
Going for my daily walk around Rye, I came across this sign in the Rye Country Store: “Rye Friends… are Forever Friends.”
It is so true.
In March I embarked on an adventure coordinated by Island Jane Journeys & Latitude & Grace to Japan with five of my “Forever Friends.”
I grew up with Jane Howard since Mrs. White’s kindergarten class at Milton School. Our parents played cards together, served on the Mother’s Guild together, and had a sewing group together (they made my prom dresses and my white graduation gown). They served the Rye City School District on the school board and as the facilities supervisor. They designed and built houses in Rye. They were the community fabric that wove Rye into the tapestry of friendships and connections that make Rye so special.
I’ve traveled with Jane before, to Iceland and Portugal. Just women who love to travel and explore art, nature, and culture. Jane Howard recently wrote a book, “Hey Nature Lady” on the core experiences shaping her life from Rye to Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington.
She is a well-seasoned traveler. This trip to Japan was tailored to our common interests. There were 11 women, six of us from the Rye High School class of 1971. What a wonderful experience to share! Much of our epic adventure in Japan stemmed from our shared experiences from Ms. Vedy’s art class, or Ms. Amend’s art class, or Mr. Dillenbeck’s English class, or Mr. Sax’s history class. A public school education filled with a lifetime of deep friendships. We all had something in common; no matter the time spent apart, it was so easy to come back together, like it was yesterday. That is how it feels.
Life is a journey, a web of connections, a series of intricate spinnerets facilitating communication. It actually makes the world quite small when you take the time to think about it. We search for a commonality in conversations. I have met and connected with many people in my travels across the lower 48, Mexico, and Canada in my camper van. It takes work cultivating and maintaining those connections and it begins with a conversation with friends, some old, some new. A conversation and journey with “Forever Friends.”
