Susanna's Sketchbook:

I am having a very good October. Last weekend, I saw my twin sister and her husband in New York and then this weekend, one of my dearest friends from Canada hopped the train from the city (where she had been on business) to visit with me in New Jersey.

Miss Maher (aka Madame Tutli-Putli) and I have known each other since we were 17 and 18 years old and even though we now live in different countries, whenever we get together we become those same silly teenagers again. I caught my husband grinning and shaking his head in another room as he overheard us enthusiastically trying on each others coats in front of a mirror perched on a chair in the dining room. Ahhh...girl-time!

My friend and I spent Saturday together, driving through the countryside, catching up on the happenings of love and careers and mutual friends. Sitting in a restaurant on the banks of the Delaware, Miss Maher pointed out two elderly ladies sitting at another table and said,"That'll be us one day!"

It's interesting, isn't it, how although we all inevitably age, our dearest friends, especially the ones that we have known forever, never really seem to grow older? Even now, I picture our mutual friends back home and in my mind they still look as they did way back when.

Miss Maher caught the train back into the city an hour or so ago and I already miss her. The laughs and our conversations, though, will have me smiling for the rest of the week. Thanks, my friend.