Three decades later, Michelle is no longer the shorter-than-me actress who insisted on carrying the umbrella as we walked to class, though she is still shorter than me. But she and I easily walk together under an umbrella of shared concerns. A few weeks ago we sat side by side at a most moving event celebrating Jewish and Christian support of Israel and each other.
Yet, we still live very different lives. My college friend has been married for 25 years to the love of her life, the mother of three and an executive in an entertainment corporation. And meanwhile her single free-lancing writer/actress friend, even after all these years still does impressions of her only in print now.
Happily, others have also come along to become comrades in arms this election. They represent a diversity in lifestyle that would warm any liberal's heart (although said liberal wouldn't warm our hearts). There's Genie the stockbroker, Cathy the casting director, Robin the mom of one of my former acting students, Sally the daughter of one of my mother's old friends and many others. Their e-mail messages and calls let me know that though other friendships may wither during this election, I'm hardly alone. They all have a point of view that enables us to skip to shorthand. ("Did you read Drudge?" "Yep!") All of these women make up my own personal non-elitist version of "The View, The Conservative Cut."
Yes, now those old children's lyrics resonate with a new meaning in "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold." Regretfully, without shared values even after this tumultuous election of 20xx, some friendships may have turned to a tin that rings hollow in these perilous times.
By the way, I recently chatted with one of those former Brownies who sang with me so long ago, She is a "security mom." She is voting for George W. Bush and she will definitely be included on my Christmas card list.
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