My Friend

Tomorrow I leave on an airplane to Colorado Springs where I will get picked up by my really good friend who is moving to Vermont to go to school. I will drive with her from Colorado to Minnesota. Then I will fly from Minnesota to Boise, Idaho where I will meet up with my husband and kids at my sister in-laws house. Have I confused you yet? It is going to be a bit crazy but a very fun last vacation before school starts and summer is officially over.

I want to tell you about this great friend of mine. We met each other in fourth grade. We had been introduced during the summer, so when school started and we both saw a familiar face we migrated to each other and pretty much have been very close friends ever since. We went all the way through high school together. That means that we were friends through, all those junior high crazy days,high school crushes and heart breaks, going away to college, me getting married, her traveling the world, me having kids, to her living in Sacramento and working with my husband for three years. That is the longest that she has stayed in any one place since graduating from high school. When she moved here I thought it would be short. I tried not to get my hopes up but then it kept stretching out longer and longer. Then I got really used to having her close by. I could just stop by and see her, go out to breakfast with her, go on bike rides, she got to see my kids grow up some. My kids love her. She was with us every step of the way through the adoption. She has been a part of my family and now she will be gone. On the other side of the country.

I will miss her deeply. I am also very happy for her. I know that this is what God has for her and I am excited to see all that is going to happen in her life. On the other hand, there is going to be a very big hole in our lives. My son came to me in tears after hearing that she was leaving soon. He said that everyone was moving and he did not like it. My daughter has her own special name for her and does not like anyone else to call her by that name.

I am looking forward to spending two uninterrupted days on the road with my friend. I know that we will talk, laugh, eat good food, swim, and just enjoy the time we have together. We were told that we would most likely not be friends after high school. That most people lose touch. At that moment we decided that would not happen to us. Ten years later, is hasn't. And I know that it never will. One day we will be old ladies, sitting and talking about all the crazy things we have done together.

Tomorrow I leave to meet my friend. The next day my husband gets in that car for a nine hour drive with three kids all on his own. Pray that they make it safe, that the kids are good for him, and that they have a lot of fun.