Freedom 55

“A strong friendship doesn’t need daily conversation or being together. As long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends never part.”

– Anon

On 02/23/2023, I turned 55 in Vegas!

And oh…what a party it was! Just me and one of my fav people on the planet – my girlfriend, Kristin! We go waayyyy back…to grade eight, in fact, when we first met on the soccer field. And the rest is history.

We were Party Girls in the 80’s & 90’s…we had SO much fun in the bars of Calgary! And then, ever so gradually, we started to grow up a little 🙂 We both got married, she and her husband started a family…and I lost my husband at the age of 32.

And that’s when I learned the true value – the depth – of our friendship.

Kristin listened to me, over and over and over again, as I worked my way through to the seemingly bottomless hell of grief…and then began the painstakingly slow climb back out again.

John died in 2000, so that was nearly twenty-three years ago. Kristin is still happily married with three grown children. I am still single with no kids. And we are both happy as clams with our life choices. But could we still party like it was 1999? Only one way to find out!

Funny how the Vegas trip came about. I was doing my morning yoga practice at home a few months ago and the song, “Piano Man” by Billy Joel popped up on my phone. And I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to do for my 55th birthday – go to Vegas with Kristin!

More specifically, I wanted to stay at the New York New York hotel. And I wanted to spend my actual birthday drinking and singing at the piano bar in that hotel. So I texted Kristin, asking her if she was game. She said yes.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

We had a TON of fun! I will spare you the details of the drunken debauchery…but suffice to say, The Party Girls still got it 🙂

Here are a few pics of the Vegas madness: 

And, of course, it probably won’t surprise you to hear there is already a screenplay in the works, entitled, “Freedom 55.”

How about you?

Maryanne Pope is the author of “A Widow’s Awakening.” She also writes screenplays, playscripts and blogs. She is the CEO of Pink Gazelle Productions and a co-founder of the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. To receive Maryanne’s blog, “Weekly Words of Wisdom,” please subscribe here.