Frankie and Grace

Years ago, someone recommended the Netflix series Frankie and Grace starting Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin who are two women in their seventies whose husbands leave the women for each other.

I never got around to watching it before, but I kept it in the back of my mind. I was at the gym and needed something to watch, so I tried this and I was pleasantly surprised. Fonda and Tomlin are two brilliant and funny actresses whose characters need to start over late in life. They never expected to be divorced. The best part of the show is how these two very different women become friends.  One is an uptight socialite, and the other is a hippie art teacher. It is about the power of friendship from unlikely places. Because they are so different, they push and challenge each other that they need to be pushed. I am not talking about control or crazy, but encouragement and support and making them think about the world from a different view.

It makes me think of my friendships. Most of my friends are just like me--middle aged white women--which is fine. The interesting thing is I learn so much more from friends who aren't like me, who come from different backgrounds or careers or are not within five years of my age. My similar friends provide support and stability. They are predictable. Friends who are not like me make my life richer and more interesting. They have a different view of the world than I do, which helps my mind to expand. I am challenged in good ways.

Of course, there needs to be something that can pull people from different walks to life together. Sometimes it is work, or a class. I met Eleanor Owen at a writing class at the University of Washington. She was twice my age, born the same year as my grandmother. She loved hearing the gossip of my life, and I loved to tell her. In this book I am reading, Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends, says that friendships and connection are correlated to longevity. No wonder Eleanor Owen lived to be 101. No wonder she died during the pandemic.

I am still loving my art class, where I meet women from all over Seattle, all ages, different backgrounds, all trying to learn a new art form. I don't know if I'll become close friends with anyone in the class, but who knows? Maybe.

This week's painting a still life in three tones (dark, medium and light) in less than forty brush strokes.