Book Club Afternoon Tea 10 Year Celebration
~Emily Dickinson
Ten years ago, I worked for my first software company out of college. It was a great place to work, back in the "dot com" days and perhaps the likes of which will never be seen again- casual dress (jeans, shorts, t-shirts, flip flops), free food (everything from breakfast food to candy drawers and all-you-can-drink soda) and great minds (some of the best people I have met in my life). I'd worked at the company for four years and its golden era was starting to ebb away- people were leaving the company, management was changing direction- it wasn't going to stay this way forever; we all knew it.
Several of us gals from the company had formed a lunch group where we often would escape the hectic scene at the office in return for good company and a variety of good food. Even when we didn't have time to leave the building, we'd gather in the lunchroom for a short break. It was at one of these lunch room discussions that our group began to realize our fate of not being able to see each other every day like this and share our lives over lunch as we all started to head our separate ways, getting new jobs and leaving the company (which eventually did go out of business a year or two later). Though no one recalls the exact date in the summer of 2000, or who the instigator of the idea actually was, a notion of a monthly book club arose from our discussions- this could be a way that we could do something fun, while getting to see each other and continue our friendships. Sometimes these sorts of ideas don't ever come to fruition; sometimes they don't last very long in this busy world where we all have families and commitments and busy lives to lead.
However, ooccasionally, you get a like-minded group of people who want to make it happen. And make it happen we did, and have- every month- for 10 years! Some members have come and gone, while some new members have melded seamlessly into our group and it has felt like they've always been there. It's amazing to me to think through every walk of our lives in the last 10 years, our ladies book club has been there to support each other. We've been through happy times and sad times, tumultuous times and distant times. We've gotten married, gotten divorced, had babies, lost jobs, gotten new jobs, lost loved ones, moved, taken great trips, celebrated and mourned with each other- all of these have been shared throughout the years.
We've also read many books! We've read books of all different genres and time periods, fiction and non-fiction, historical novels and manga. I've read some as library books, some purchased from the bookstore, some listened to as books on tape and some as audiobooks on my iPod and just recently, I read one as an e-book on my newly purchased e-reader, which I could not have fathomed 10 years ago! :) Many, many enjoyable books I would never have read, if not for book club. However, I have personally gained more knowledge and wisdom from my book club members than half of the books I've read, have enjoyed much food, wine and conversation over the pages of a book I meant to finish but only skimmed, but most of all, I have gained many lasting friendships that I wouldn't have expected and wouldn't give up if my life depended on it! :) Happy 10th anniversary to the "Book Babes": Liz, Lynn, Billie Jo, Jen, Chris, Karen, Beth, Jo, Zoya, Kathy and Becky. Pictures from our 10th anniversary celebration at Afternoon Tea here.
Comments