Best Friends Forever

“Women have rarely known primacy in temples or churches, and so we continue to find it at other altars, with our sisters, who have never lacked for words, only voices and volume. “

—Martha Manning

Most everyone would agree with me that life long friends are gifts to be treasured.  It never occurred to me that getting to know a group of girls during my college years at MSCW would stretch out over the next 60 years and provide an annual gathering in far flung locations around the South.  We belonged to the Jester Social Club, from the classes of 1956, 1957 and 1958. After graduation we scattered to begin careers or marriage, some with young families already.  But we tried to reconnect periodically, often at Christmastime in Jackson when we returned to Mississippi for the holidays.  Those early meetings were usually dinner at a local restaurant; some of us included our husbands.  

But as our children grew older and we had a bit more freedom, we could manage a weekend away from home.  The earliest of these outings was near Louisville, MS, at Lake Tiak O’Khata where we could rent cabins and eat in their dining hall.  Sylvia (Duckie) Clark lived in Louisville and made the arrangements for us.  At that time she was co-owner of a dress shop named “Mirror Mirror”.  The highlight of the weekend was shopping with our own personal consultant, who graciously granted us a 20% discount on purchases. 

In the intervening years we have traveled several times to Edisto Beach, SC, at Betty Lewis’ invitation; once we visited in Geri Ingram’s home at Sautee, GA; Sally McReynolds entertained us at least twice in Shelbyville, TN; Nan Long gave us access to vacation homes of her children in Port St. Joe, FL and Pickwick Lake, MS, and Duckie opened her condo in Orange Beach, AL, on several occasions.  

Beach trips provided great subject matter for sketching

Other trips have been planned for hotels, condos, beach houses and conference centers in fun places like Black Mountain, Highlands, and Blowing Rock, NC; Jekyll Island, and Callaway Gardens, GA; Ft. Morgan, AL; Gray Center and Plymouth Bluff in MS.

We have embraced new adventures:  riding on Sally’s Sea Doo at Tims Ford Lake, hiking to Sunset Rock to overlook Highlands, fishing at Gray Center and Pickwick Lake, hiking to Anna Ruby Falls in north Georgia.  And we have seen the sights:  the Majesty of Spain exhibit and the Museum of Natural Science in Jackson, buggy riding in Charleston, SC, feeling the wind at the top of Blowing Rock, NC, taking an historical walking tour of Beaufort, SC, and of course, shopping in at least 7 different states. 

Our most recent trip in 2014 gave us a chance to return to Homecoming at the W as well as spend a day at Mississippi State enjoying the annual Ragtime and Blues Festival.  With no activities planned for Sunday morning, we had a memorial worship service to honor the first member of our group to pass away.  In February our sweet precious Jo Nell Hales died quietly in her sleep in Birmingham.  Ten of us were able to attend her funeral and it seemed appropriate for us to honor her privately when we gathered in March.  

We sang, read Scripture, and prayed; then Sally spoke for a few minutes about The Ties That Bind, a reflection in memory of Jo Nell and in honor of the strong bonds that exist within this group.  Quoting from Sally’s remarks that day:

“To begin with, MSCW was the tie that brought us together.  Through activities in smaller groups like Jesters, college singers, BSU or Wesley, Meh Lady, Spectator, Theater Guild and Student Government, we built friendships and developed common interests.  But what ties have kept us together all these 60 years?  We have not all lived in the same communities.  Some of us married while others did not.  We pursued different careers, joined different organizations and churches, and supported different charities.  I suggest to you that it might be those differences that tie us together.  God gave us different talents and we have used those talents to knit a group of kindred minds together in Christian love.

“Those in our group who are musically talented have led us in memorable experiences.  We remember singing in the Church in the Wildwood, the chapel in Callaway Gardens with its magnificent stained glass window and melodious organ music, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the piano and sing-a-long at Port St. Joe, another sing-a-long at the chapel in The Cove in North Carolina with Janet at the piano, and at the Gray Center in Canton where we had our own little church to sing and worship.  We even sang camp songs at Tims Ford Lake in Tennessee.  Jo Nell was inspired by the breakfast music at Highlands and found “Scottish Tranquility” on a tape which she copied for each of us.  And most recently we attended the Ragtime Festival at Mississippi State.  

“Some of us are talented and educated in the field of home economies. Think of the delicious food our talented cooks have prepared and served so elegantly.  Bacon wrapped green beans by Jo Nell comes to mind.  That bowl of boiled shrimp and platter of corn-on-the-cob with new potatoes served by Beverly and Duckie at Edisto was a low country delight.  Of course we all love Beckly’s pimento cheese. Desserts and goodies too numerous to mention added flare to our meals.  The creative members saw to it that the table were set with appropriate and available decor, i.e. magnolia blossoms at Jekyll Island…”

The wide ranging life experiences within this group of 16 women have enriched all of us.  Bev Jones was dedicated to her work with Girl Scouts; when we  had a few hours in Savannah, it was important to her to tour the homeplace of the founder, Juliette Lowe.

Becky has  donated untold hours to Mustard Seed, a daycare facility for developmentally challenged adults.  She arranged a tour for us through their ceramic workshop and we were enchanted as they eagerly showed us their artwork.  Later in the gift shop we bought lots of colorful items to remind  us of a unique experience.  I treasure my little teapot. 

On one of our trips to Edisto, Betty arranged a walking tour of nearby Beaufort, SC, where learning about the history of the low country was entertaining and educational.  Our guide (a former actor) loved to talk, and during his rambling discourse there was plenty of time to sketch this old church, Tabernacle Baptist, founded in 1840 and given to the slaves by the Union army after they invaded South Carolina.

While traveling in North Carolina in 2007 we wanted to see the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.  But as we arrived, so did a thunderstorm.  Racing inside out of the rain, we strolled and looked, then decided to make our picture standing in front of the enormous fireplace in their lobby.  That was when the electricity went out.  Beverly, who had parked her van underground, said “I better go get the van; you round up the girls.”  We waited at the front door quite a while before she drove up, tears in her eyes from laughing, to recount her adventure:  Without electricity or elevators, she had to walk down to the sixth level, but there was no entrance.  She stopped a  maid who said, “No English.”  She walked down more stairs to the fourth floor, where she was told to go back up to sixth and look for a tiny car sign over door to “Sammons Garage”.  Finally inside, she had to flick the remote control to work the car lights in order to locate the van.  

Occasionally we wonder how long we will be able to continue our trips, but we all know that they have a high priority on everyone’s calendar.  Sally ended her remarks that Sunday in March 2014 by saying, “After the benediction I invite you to share  some of your memories of Jo Nell.  And we did…surprisingly, they were not sorrowful, rather they were mostly joyful…and yes, even funny.  We all have special memories of Jo Nell and also of every other member of our group.  The recent coining of “BFF” has almost become trite; but in some cases, “best friends forever” is actually true.

   

Edisto  

Lake Tiak O'Khata 1987

Callaway Garden 1998

Church in the Wildwood

Highlands, North Carolina  1993 

At the W in 2014