This past week my oldest friend was here visiting. Not oldest as in age (HA) but oldest as in 2 1/2 decades of friendship under the bridge. That's a lot of friendship. Also, it was my birthday week! In those decades, we have only seen each other one other time.
She is my friend that I can call and we can pick up where we left off. She's the one that I may not talk to often, but I KNOW she's there. Her son is a month older than my oldest, her daughter is a couple months younger than our C and her granddaughter is a month and 1/2 older than our Reyasunshine. Our lives have mirrored each other. We've seen things, done things, lived through things and grown. We laughed over our children and cried over their choices. And a very long time ago, she helped me escape. I am forever grateful.
Of course I wanted to show her everything from Idaho. She is from Arkansas, after all, and has never been further west than Texas. Everything she knew about Idaho was POTATO....imagine that! I thought of places to eat, things to see. I wanted to share with her everything that had changed since I left her neck of the woods 24 years earlier. It was A LOT. We ate at The Boise Fry Co, went to Idaho Pizza, drove to Twin and saw waterfalls on the way. We skipped church to catch up, watched movies and giggled over my sweet grandgirls calling her Miss Phylla. We laughed about her selfie taking skills (she has none), saw a fountain show at The Village and watched The Magnificent 7 on my birthday. NOT a happy movie, btw. We shared a cinnamon roll at Great Harvest, I shook my head at her love of Coke. (blech) We went and saw the "Blue", the fish at the MK Nature Center and people sword fighting at Museum Comes to Life. She got more free souvenirs than I can count for her grandgirl. The week has flown by.
She's missed her kids, her husband and her grandgirl. I loved the awe as she realized that Idaho is a desert and that we have a lot of corn. We warned her about the bi-polar weather; sure enough, our great state didn't disappoint. I introduced her to my children; she knew Hillary as a young child and briefly as a young adult. The other girls were a bonus and a whirlwind of memories to talk about. Our S tickled her to death and she wants to take Whisper home. The girls waited for my southern accent to appear; I worked hard to make sure it didn't.
As we visited, I worried. I wondered if she was having a good time. Was I the same...did she wish she hadn't come...was it worth it? Wow...the enemy seeks to steal joy. I didn't let him, though. My worry was small and I realized I didn't have to entertain her. She is my friend....my decades long friend.
It's friendship forged in a fire. She is a joy to be around, to giggle with, to cry to. She's beautiful and doesn't really know it. My heart is full and thankful to God. I was a young woman when we met, married to a man who wasn't nice. I am older now, life experience trumping my youth, married to a nice man. It always amazes me how time continues forward and things change. But it's in moments like these that I realize things haven't changed as much. We are still us.
Thank you girls, for this sweet gift of time. Bless your hearts.....(HA) I don't know when we'll see each other again, physically. I hope it's sooner, rather than later. But I know I'll see her again before God, dancing and praising Him.
I love you, friend.
ps...never leave home without your face AND your girdle on. ;)
