when the boy scouts and i got to atlanta airport, i was worried that we’d have a repeat of the trip out from chicago–eighteen hours of rerouting, delays and drama. but then i walked into the airport and saw something that made me realize i’d really be a selfish, spoilt brat to complain about anything.
these guys and gals were being deployed to afghanistan. i am so grateful to them for the sacrifices they and their families make so that i can live in peace
the flight itself was easy and i was looking forward to meeting f2fb friend #200–i feel this to be a huge milestone for me. the southern trip also represented another strange surprise of this project: the boy scouts (ben and branden) with their cameras wanted to take a side trip to meet my father justin. justin was one of my first facebook visits (he’s f2fb friend #30). there was a lot of drama at the last visit and i was shaking inside when we reached tallahassee. if he had said i was an idiot, or if he had said nothing whatsoever to me, i wouldn’t have been surprised. instead, i really was shocked–
thank you to the very wonderful cinematographers kyle and caitlin!
in chicago, i grabbed a cab and headed for the university club of chicago where i would meet miss f2fb friend #200 elizabeth stein. she is a dealer in stradivarius violins and non plus ultra when it comes to chic. i came to know her because she is a friend of my ex-husband–they are both members of the university club–and indeed my ex-husband was so kind as to make arrangements beforehand to pay for our dinner.
liz greeted me as if i were a william shackleton returning from an adventure. which was exactly what i felt like.
shackleton's ship endurance was trapped in the antarctic but he lost none of his men--i went to miami (accidentally), atlanta, tallahassee, and huntsville and we didn't lose anybody! except we got pulled over by chief j.e. wright of the coolidge, georgia police department. he gave us a courtesy warning.
liz and i dined on the twelfth floor outdoor gallery. everyone knew her name–every waiter, every busboy, every guest. because we were next to the balcony railing, i leaned a little towards the building just in case a strong wind should try to blow me overboard–i might have given the appearance of having bad posture.
we talked about beauty, since our meeting started with the language of women friends–“you look great!” liz is beautiful, but believes she isn’t. liz believes i’m beautiful, but i don’t share that belief. we are roughly the same age and we were raised in an era that prized very thin lips (no collagen!), very small ass (kim kardashian? no way!), absolutely no tits and above all, a small nose. beauty was twiggy–
i so wanted to look like twiggy when i was a kid! liz and i agreed that neither of us was like twiggy!
liz grew up with a lot of pressure to get a nose job. the patricks who raised me were appalled at my appearance–deciding that my nose, in particular, indicated a possibility that they had been slipped a jewish child by the adoption agency! a lot of gals our age got their noses changed to the “cheryl tiegs” nose. no disrespect to ms. tiegs.
liz and i both agreed that our age gives us the right to say “i am exactly who i am” that’s what this year has been about for me and i hope it’s what miss f2fb #200’s life is about!
i think we judge things and people to be beautiful if we like them. i like miss 200!
arlynnpresser 
August 26th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Love it! Two things new and awesome here. Your dad said he’s proud of you. I remember how I felt the first time my dad said that. It does change things. Remember to believe it, and don’t let anything in the future change it. Second, I about dropped my teeth when I read it, even went back to make sure that’s what you said, and it was. In fact, I just went back again and am copy and pasting so I don’t misquote, “the flight itself was easy” Yee Haw!! By the time this year is over you’ll be able to handle anything!
August 26th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
bonnie, i have become a different person! so yeah, now i can get on a plane with only a momentary jitters. except that might change when i do the alaska trip and i have montreal coming up. going outside the continental us seems to be an issue for me! and your dad was ALWAYS proud of you.
he just might have taken his time about getting around to saying it!