Musketeers 3 & Me

I saw them as my Musketeers, and I was D’Artagnan. In many ways, I was young and foolish. I learned important life lessons from them all as we seemed to rush through four years of high school. Our days were full yet the hours within those days were fleeting. Like butterflies caught in a great wind, we were thrust out into the world of adulthood all too soon.

Musketeer “K” was the smart one. She joined the smart clubs at school and she learned French, eventually becoming a foreign exchange student in France. Of course, being a musketeer, she would choose France. She dreamed of mixing the oceans with science and would go off to college to make that happen. Yes, “K” was smart and walked among the smart ones. Still, she chose to remain my friend.

Musketeer “S” was the beauty. I would go so far as to call her the sexy one, although I hadn’t graduated to the understanding of what sexy meant. I just knew that she was the “IT” girl. The boys fell all over themselves for a chance to spend time with her. I reaped the benefits of male friendships because they knew I was her friend and they could talk to me about her. I didn’t mind. I knew the positives of “S” and she was worth my time. She surprised me when she and her husband went off into the sunset, on their Harleys, and saw the world. They still ride.

And then there is Musketeer “A”. From day one she has been my brooding musketeer. Hardships and sadness have filled her life. Her family was full of negatives, both in attitude and in action. And yet, she has always worked to find beauty and hope and love in life. When I was that wind-blown butterfly, bruised and grounded, she was there with me. In many ways, I owe her my health and my sanity.

We, all of us, have led very different lives since high school. On those rare occasions we get together and we talk and we laugh as though we have never been apart. Actually, our infrequent times together seem sweeter than the times we spent during those fleeting years fifty years ago. Growing older, it seems, has caused a slowdown and a savoring of each precious moment.

Back then, that wind thought it was blowing butterflies but we turned out to be so much more. We took our swords, uniquely fashioned for each of us, and swashbuckled our ways out into the unknown, each choosing paths that helped to make us who are are now.

I raise a cup of cheer to you, my dear Musketeers. Thank you for being you. Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives.

Yours Truly,
D’Artagnan (“R”)