Not “old” age-wise (although we are getting up there). Old as in long-established…
No, that's not us!
I had the pleasure of seeing an old friend this morning. Heather and I met 14 years ago this coming August, when we both entered our adjoining classrooms. It was my first teaching job, and Heather’s first full-time teaching job. We quickly became good friends for the three years we taught together. We traveled, cooked-out, got pets, married our now-husbands, drank margaritas, gossiped on the telephone, visited each other after the births of babies…we’ve done it all. (Just not all at the same time!)
Sadly, Heather and I don’t get to see each other much anymore. We’ve both left the teaching profession, and her job and family keep her super busy. Still, we keep in contact via email and Facebook, and manage to get together when the stars align. I love that when we sit down after a long time, I immediately feel comfortable with her. We talk about things that normally take a while for me to be willing to share with others. We reminisce and hold each others’ babies. We move past the niceties and get to the heart of matters in no time flat. She knows when to give advice and when to listen. We toss around ideas and theories about God, the world, and everything.
So a host of thoughts are running through my head after this get-together with Heather…our identities apart from our husbands and children, our mothers and how we are shaped by them…and lots of other stuff. I hope Heather will guest blog for me sometime in the near future as she’s an excellent writer and has so many wonderful things to say.
Everyone needs a friend like this. I’m willing to share. She’s too cool not to share with my readers.
