Day 07 – Your best friend

oh, this is a tough one!  i think i've talked before about the fact that i don't have just ONE best friend. they truly are equally important and equally ... well... best!  


i have been so blessed by the friends in my life, is what it is!  


toni, who has been my sister and my bestie since we met when she was in 5th grade and i was in 4th.  i spent so much time with her during my elementary years, it really was like we were joined at the hip except during classes!  there are things i still always have to carry in my purse because of the "emergency bags" we created as children.  the way i pack for road trips was also influenced by those bags.  

april, who has been a bestie since 7th grade.  through moving 1/2 way across the country the following summer.  through marriage & kids & moving across the country again.  through a period of time where we didn't speak often.  she was the ONE person i never shied away from talking with on the phone.  we could talk for hours about nothing - or SMK and soap operas! - even after spending all day together AND writing 12 page notes to each other.  

julia, who's been a bestie since 8th grade, filling the physical void left by april's leaving.  knowing each other since 2nd grade and being at odds for a lot of that time, forced to hang out through car pooling.  finally forging a real friendship that has lasted all these many years.  her kids, sarah & andrew, are a niece & nephew.  sarah is my very first!  she's a bestie in her own right.  : )  

erin, who's been a bestie since high school.  our schedules are really wacky in adulthood, but we make time to hang out when we can.  she's mom to my puppy-niece, daisy.  : )  she's a miracle, her whole life is a miracle, and i'm so grateful that she's here and in my life!!  

linda & carol, besties since HS.  carol introduced me to romance novels and different views of the world and of the Lord and His love for us.  linda, who is now living in japan, was so outgoing when we met.  her first day or week at a new school, and she's chatting at me like we've known each other forever.  way cool, way impressed, and way thankful to be her friend!  so happy i got to see her & her daughter this summer, as well!!

this would be vicky & abby, linda, carol, me, juli & families! 

joy, who's been a bestie since college.  she's one of my favorite road trip besties, along with sarahbug & debi-bob.  : )  we all clicked right from the minute we met, our personalities just mesh.  which isn't to say we agree about everything, certainly!  *laugh*  we finish each other's sentences, tho, so that has to mean our brains are quite in sync!  there was a rough patch w/ one of these 3, but we worked through it & have one of the strongest friendships now, partly because of that hardship perhaps.  God knows what He's doing!

boo, bug, bob(holding our newest nephew, chase) & joy

trish, my most recent bestie.  i think it's awesome to have found someone i'm so close with this late in life.  not that i'm old.  LOL  it's just that, to find someone who you have SO MUCH in common with when you're almost 30, who you can argue with and still be friends, who you can hang out with outside of work on a real level, who you can enjoy hanging out with every day and whose FAMILY you can enjoy hanging out with (and who enjoy hanging out with you!)... it's just a huge blessing that i'm, again, very grateful for. 

on a parental level, my dad was my best friend.  we shared a love of bowling and roller coasters and harry potter and travel and donut sticks and breakfast.  among many other things!  he gave me my sense of humor, and my love of the Lord.  he & mom taught me that marriages don't have to be perfect to be full of love.  he was my champion, my hero, and that kind of a best friend.  

of course, my most important best friend is THE BEST FRIEND anyone can ever have, the Lord.  : )  He is all I need, but because He knows my life is richer with all of these other besties, He blesses me.


and there you have it!  : )  i have been blessed with many friends, some who i also count as family.  i love them (YOU)!  and then, the sad side of it, i've had others who i considered besties in adulthood, who dropped out of my life.  they're still in my heart and still on my mind often.  and i miss the besties from childhood who aren't still around - looney, ryan, olivia, megan, kelly... i'm sure they're around somewhere (except for ryan, who passed away) just not in my life anymore!  


okay, i could go on & on about the amazing ppl God has put in my life recently, including new blog buddies (micaela!  marianne!  jess!  jana!) but i'm writing this at 2 a.m. now & it's fixin to storm & i guess i should go to bed!  : )  good thing i'm writing this post early & i don't have to go to work tomorrow!


take care & ttfn!  LOVE ya!