Meet George Jetson,

His boy Elroy,

Daughter Judy

Jane his wife.

Driving through Palm Springs, California you cannot help but hum this tune, the theme song from the Jetsons. The Jetsons was my favorite cartoon in 1962 and the style of their home, furniture and clothes were popping up everywhere in Palm Springs. It was heavenly, a mid-century modern paradise.

The friends I was with also would all know this song, as I’m sure we watched it together. I was in Palm Springs with five girls who all went to kindergarten together.

The planning of our trip had taken over a year and our dreams came true. We told everyone we met our story and asked them to take our picture everywhere we went. We will all turn 65 this year and we toasted 60 years of friendship with pink champagne.

Having gone our separate ways after high school we went on to college, jobs, marriage, and kids, all the while keeping in touch via lunch, cards and phone calls, but finally we had time to really reconnect.

I remember watching a movie about J. M Barrie the author of Peter Pan with my daughter Emma. Mrs. Darling talks about different kinds of bravery and how when we make sacrifices for our families, we often put away our dreams. Emma asked me if I had done that and if I had, I should get them back out. This was such a sweet acknowledgement of what parents do while they are raising their family. So a trip to Palm Springs was my way of taking Emma’s advice.

I will never forgot those walks to school, sleepovers, riding bikes and playing we were the Beatles. We reminisced and our conversations were easy and almost like no time had passed. We had been imprinted with the indelible ink of childhood friendships

We had done it together, wearing paisley mini skirts, we conformed, we experimented, we rebelled and we grew up.