Local Life

Retro Party On with RFH Besties

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RFH girls’ gaggle in ’79 or ’80
Photo/Lisa Friedman Schermerhorn

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha omg. I miss those days of laughing so hard and almost peeing my pants.”

Lisa Friedman Schermerhorn

There’s something about laughter among childhood friends …

It just can’t be compared. A lot of that was going on with this gaggle of RFH girls back in 1980 or so.

So, as a cheers to a pandemic time weekend, we revisit a crew of besties who were likely partying in on a Friday or Saturday night … or getting ready for a night out.

This group from the RFH Class of 1980 had traditions of its own. It involved, as with most RFHers of the era, hitting Chubby’s Pub, Ichabod’s and/or Donovan’s Reef, said Lisa Friedman Schermerhorn, who provided the photo.

It was taken at RFHer Leslie Fields’ home in ’79 or ’80, say the girls.

It honored the birthday, some 40 years later, of Leslie Gunther, who opened the time capsule with a thank you to the girls for being her friends then and now:

“Looking at these pictures brings up so many great memories. Whenever we were together we would laugh so hard we would cry. Or pee our pants. But it also reminds me of how blessed I was to have an amazing group of girlfriends that made me feel safe and loved and accepted when the idea of that was so foreign to me I didn’t even know what that meant at the time.”

Especially with the loss of some, seemingly whirlwind passage of time lends to a true understanding of what the gift of such friendship means. Never letting go can heal the heart, too, especially when forever friends hold on tight to the laughter.

All friendships are special. But, “it’s just not the same” as this.

It tends to be a “don’t try this at home” experiment when you try to share a childhood friend inside joke with a new friend, grasping for the gut-wrenching laughter on a dark day and it’s met with silence and a strange stare.

The same joke never gets old with an old friend, though. These girls? Well, their pranks of the era involved innocent shooting of people with super soakers out of car windows, sometimes involving sneaking up on someone, screaming and blasting with water.

Another favorite for this crew was stopping and asking someone, in a little old lady voice, where the to find the street on which they were standing.

Not funny? Not your gaggle of buds. Go back, remember and laugh. RIP to the two RFH friends in this picture who are now gone. Remember. And, have a safe, fun weekend, all!

Happy belated birthday to Leslie Gunther! Cheers, girls!