Bodega Babes

Eight girls sat nervously on the side of the bed waiting for my mother to enter. My parents had driven a carload of girls up to Eureka, California to cheer on the high school football team and we were staying in a hotel room on our own. We had been warned to keep all boys out and we had clearly violated the rule. Moments earlier, the hotel room in Eureka, California was filled with nearly 20 boys who were also visiting town for the game. When my mom stopped by to check on us, the look on her face was nothing short of complete distress. She stood at the door in her robe and slippers and pointed to the boys to leave. There was no way out of the situation. We steadied ourselves in preparation for the tongue lashing we anticipated and deserved.

When the last boy cleared her post, my mother quickly crossed the threshold and turned to us. She stared in our eyes for a brief moment and then leaned over and started laughing. Between giggles she exclaimed, “That was so embarrassing!” At that moment, we all started laughing.

Little did we know that we would be telling and smiling about that story thirty years later.

We all need friends in our lives who knew us as kids. Those friendships remind us of a humble beginning when we weren’t quite sure of our destiny. Somehow, when I get together with my high school buddies, I become 16 again – with all the freshness and excitement of a less complicated time. We play songs from 1978 and miraculously know all the words. We laugh about high school dances, boyfriends, and teachers we didn’t like. Pages of yearbooks are examined and we wonder about faces we knew and haven’t seen in many years. Reminiscing about the past seems to bring the present into focus as we realize the irreplaceable value of those life-long friendships.

Three years ago, my high school friends decided to rent a house for the weekend in the tiny harbor town of Bodega Bay on the Sonoma coast. Our teen years were spent driving to the beach for a variety of celebrations so it seemed like an appropriate venue. We hadn’t really seen much of each other in the years since graduation. While we had occasionally met for dinner or a holiday celebration, life had kept us all busy and this was our chance to catch up.

The weekend turned out to be a remarkable journey. We laughed until we cried and re-enacted stories from years past. The joys and sorrows of our current lives emerged as highlights in our conversation and a warm embrace seemed to fill the air. Life had delivered significant changes in the decades since those carefree days of our youth - some more painful than others. But something important had remained steadfastly intact – our commitment to one another. As giddy teenagers, we trusted each other with our deepest, darkest secrets. In Bodega, we realized that nothing had changed. That high school friendship had just matured into something much more meaningful and significant. Years of experience had brought new insight, advice, and support. We learned how to tell each other to forgive and forget and how to comfort and congratulate. Friendships can be complicated, but at that moment in Bodega, the true essence of friendship was absolutely natural and complete.


The Bodega babes continue to get together to share stories of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We have however all promised to censor the pictures that we share with our family from our weekend retreats!