Two hours isn’t nearly enough time to catch up with a friend you haven’t seen in four years, but I guess that’s what you get when she’s in town for only a few days. (I suppose I’ll “share” her with her family.)
Casey and I have known each other since we were in the first grade. We befriended each other more than 25 years ago and although our lives have taken entirely different directions than we could have ever imagined, when it comes to who we are as people, not too much has changed. She continues to be the most intelligent, classy, engaging and cheerful person I know. (It must be the dimples.) She is a person I’ve always admired. She’s a person who embodies many things I could only dream of being and doing.
There isn’t one phase in my life that doesn’t include Casey in some way - elementary school, high school dances, out-of-town trips etc. Heck, we even managed to be sorority sisters in college. An accomplished professional, mother and wife living in Alaska, we’re far apart in distance but not in the heart. Closeness, no matter the distance, that’s the good thing about friends.
Friends … what are they for? For me, well, they keep me grounded. I need that. We all need it. Sometimes connecting and disconnecting at different points throughout our lives, I’ve still managed to keep a close knit group of trusted “life” advisors around me. They know me … the real me. There’s no agenda - personal or professional. There’s no need to try and impress one another, no spouse to try and work things out with, no boss to worry about, no family relationship to stress over. Instead, it’s a simple, unspoken promise between two people … a willingness to be a part of each others lives - just because.
My friends know my failings and greatest fears (all of them) and then forgive and love me despite them - even if some of my failings impacted them personally. They are the people who give us all strength and encouragement when we don’t believe in ourselves. They are our outside conscience when our murky minds stand in their own way of progress.
What a blessing it is to have a “home” to be free in and welcomed with open arms.
Friendships happen in the most unexpected ways, but keeping them is an active decision we all make.
Who would have thought that the same little girl who gave me a balloon and asked to be friends at the playground would continue to be such an important part of my life 25 years later?
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