Who is your best friend?

Having a life abundant with friends is a tremendous treasure. Among my treasured gems, for over thirty years is my best friend.

She grew up less than a mile away from my family farm; hers just south down the gravel road. We were friends in high school. Hung out with the same crowd and drove up and down the same main street. After high school we went our separate ways, each taking our own path. A year later we began a conversation at a summer party, which has never ended. With the glow of a bonfire, friendship was renewed and two best friends were made.

Even though both of us worked “in the cities” we rented the lower level of a house located in our home town on Fifth Street and made life long friends with the couple upstairs. We bought a great big couch, kept only Mountain Dew and yogurt in the fridge and ate popcorn for supper. On Saturdays we shopped bargains at the local stores, read magazine stories to each other, polished our nails at the kitchen table and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Our roommate status changed in 1985 when we each got married, just two months apart. Two husbands became good friends and five children grew up together like brothers and sisters. Our families have shared holidays, birthdays, cabin trips, county fairs, and simple daily occurrences. Her life and mine have always been parallel, each experiencing the same events or similar feelings about the same time. Together, we have embraced life’s highs and lows as much in person as on the phone.

My best friend is the Godmother of my son Michael. A role that expanded into clinical conversations and hospital room visits. During uncertain times she reminded me who I was, where I came from and who I was created to be. On the days I felt lost or confused, she put me back on course. A friend gracefully appointed.

As best friends we share thousands of memories and dreams with an assurance of many more to come. We even share the same birth year with birthday’s only weeks apart. So, Happy Birthday girlfriend! You have been and continue to be the change.

Thank you for encouraging me and everyone around you to Be The Change!