Tim and I were born on the south side, married in Chicago in 1985 and lived in the Beverly/Morgan Park neighborhood for ten years. Chicago was our home until we moved to Valparaiso, Indiana, in 1995. I spent that first summer living out of my van. I’d load up our four kids and hightail it back to St. Cajetan to be with my friends. I knew my friends’ parents and siblings, and many of my friends’ families called my family members friends.
Tim used to sit on the front porch in our new neighborhood and look for new friends. He’d scope out kids our children’s age. 1995 was a brutally hot summer, and most people stayed indoors. Air conditioners moaned in chorus, and lawns morphed into yellow parchment paper. Once the kids started school in August, we planted deep roots in Valparaiso – with the help of new friends.
God blessed me with a soulmate next door, great neighbors, wonderful school families, an active church community, a great Y, and three amazing running friends.
Last year, we moved from Valparaiso to Michiana Shores, Indiana – fulfilling my dream of living withing walking distance to Lake Michigan where the lapping water soothes my spirit. We live in the woods, and our street is very, very quiet. There are few full-time residents near our house. For most, the homes here are getaways from a hectic life elsewhere.
When I run, I loop through neighborhoods and count Illinois plates. It’s become a past-time for me. I get back from my run, and I report to Tim who nods kindly.
I’ve grown used to driving to Valparaiso to teach and visit with friends. 80/94 is a regular route to see my childhood and Illini friends. And until two weeks ago, I continuted to run regularly in Valpo or the Dunes with friends.
Yesterday, while roaming on my lone COVID-19 run, Bette Midler’s “Friends” tune ramped up the pace of my stride. It hit me like a wave off the Lake. I MISS MY FRIENDS! I run with friends, I work with friends, I talk about books with friends, I eat with friends, I laugh with friends, I dance with friends, I exercise with friends. Where are they? I gotta get me some!
I wrote my own lyrics to Bette Midler’s Friends
Nancy’s “Friends” 31 March 2020 – two weeks into social distancing
And I am all alone.
Tim is the only one beside me.
And my children have all grown,
There’s no one to run astride me.
But you got to have friends – the feeling’s oh so strong.
You got to have friends – to make me feel like I belong.
I got some friends but they’re home.
COVID came and took them away.
And from the dusk till the dawn here is where I’ll stay.
I’ll be here until the month of May
Waiting for my new friends to come.
Just be sure to stay six feet away.
I’m gonna get some of them.
‘Cause you got to have friends.
‘Cause you got to have friends.