LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Martha Frances Hutchins had one wish for her 96th birthday this year: to get her best childhood friends together.
"It's been a few years since I've seen them," she said. "I really couldn't get by without them."
It was a tall order, but nothing nearly 10 decades of built-up birthday magic couldn't handle.
"I made a list and turns out everyone could come!" Hutchins beamed as she sat at a large empty table at the Pancake House in Grayson. Around her sat seven empty chairs, soon to be filled with her lifelong girlfriends.
At 96 years old, you might wish for time to slow down. That is not the case for Hutchins, who taps her foot as she anxiously awaits the arrival of her friends.
"We have a lot to catch up on," she said. "We even got my hearing aids fixed!"
One by one, Hutchins' friends begin to file in. Hugs, excited squeals, and life updates are quickly exchanged.
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Although it's been about five years since they've all been together, the friendships between the eight women run eight decades strong.
Fate long ago led each of them to Lawrenceville, where they each attended First Baptist Church.
“Back when we were young, it was a small town where everybody knew each other," Hutchins said. "We've helped each other through so much.”
The church that brought them together still stands in the downtown square on a street aptly named "Luckie."
“They're just the best friends... that you can have," said Carlene Harris, who, at 98, proudly pointed out she's the oldest in attendance, set to turn 99 in August.
"But not the wisest," she joked.
"And you're the youngest," Hutchins said, nudging the friend next to her. "You're 88!"
After several years apart, the ladies had plenty of catching up to do. They passed around old photo albums and reminisced about how they were together when they each met their soulmates.
“I almost didn't marry my husband because he really couldn’t dance!” Hutchins laughed, pointing toward another friend in the group. "Remember he'd pass me off to Jack, your husband!"
The friends were also together when, one by one, they had to say goodbye.
“We've all been with each other when we've lost our husbands," Harris said. "It's those kinds of situations over a number of years that tie you together."
Hutchins nodded, adding with a smile, "They'd want to be here."
"Yeah," Harris said. "And they'd want us to be here.”
But the ladies don't linger long on sad memories, quickly dissolving back into fits of giggles as they swap old stories.
“There are a lot of things that we share, the good and the bad," Harris said. "I believe in girlfriends. When they still mean so much to you, that's your true circle of love. We don't feel like we have to be somebody that we're not.”
Inevitably, some gaps in memory are left by time and age.
“I don't remember a lot of things that I should," shrugged Hutchins, adding she's not all too concerned by the little things she can't remember.
Because if decades of friendship have taught them anything, it's that the only thing better than sharing old memories is another year to make new ones.
“Friends help you remember your life, you know," Harris said. "It comes back when you get together.”