Friendship, true friendship is rare in this world. I have
had many, many friends, some that I had imagined would last me a life time. Out
of all the friends I have had in my life, only a select few have remained.
My two oldest friends I met back in the dark ages of high
school when I was a mere twelve years old are my most cherished antiques, (I
mean that with love girls). We have gone through much together and apart, but
have stuck like glue. When I think back to our early years, I smile at the
memories. We knew nothing back in the day, but we sure thought we did.
It took me several years to realize that these two were
destined to be life-long friends. My life had been full of losses so this came
as a wonderful surprise to me. We have each had our share of grief, of miss-understandings,
of good times and of bad. We shared date nights together, marriage, break-ups,
more marriages and babies. We weathered the divorces, the deaths, the births
and life’s challenges beside each other, even when we lived in three different
states.
Through our friendship, we often lose touch, rarely call,
hardly write, but always our hearts meet. We have vowed now in our ancient
years to get together yearly, however, life has a habit of getting in our way.
Yet we still manage, between the distances, the silences and infrequent visits
to meet here and there. When we do, the miles, years and silences are erased.
We pick right up where we left off, a little older, a little grayer, (those of
us who dye our hair will never reveal how gray we have become) and much wiser.
At least we like to think we have grown wiser.
I have marveled over these two ladies and how blessed I am
to have them in my life. They are sisters of my heart and treasured. We joke
often we will retire together on a beach front nursing home with reserved
rocking chairs. I know we will cause a stir in that old folks’ home.
We are each so different, yet a like. I always saw us as the
loud one, the quiet one and the one who is a little of both. I am sure you gals
can figure out who is who. *wink*. We are passionate about our lives, our
friendships and our belief in God. We have skated through life and known if one
of us called, we would be there to catch the other when they fell.
Back in the day of long distance phone calls, one of these
ladies spent hours and hours checking on me when I was going through a rather
horrible time in my life. Her phone bill must have been more than my house
payment. She showed up again years later after I lost a loved one and had
bought a house. She came with paint brush in hand and warm arms for me to cry
on. She has showed up, time and time again. I will never forget that my friend.
Nor will I forget those days of young motherhood when my
other dear friend and I would daily chat about the challenges of raising our
kids, the long sleepless nights, burnt dinners and endless trips to doctors. We
shared our nursing and birth stories like soldiers off in battle and gave
advice freely if not always solicited. We visited together with toddlers in tow
any chance we could get and had children close in ages. I will always remember
those days fondly and miss them dearly.
I have two other dear friends I have collected in recent
years who have warmed my heart, inspired me to grow in my beliefs and my
writings. They are my treasures of every day talks and walks through life.
Friendship is not for the weak of heart; you have to show up
to be a true friend. You have to have a listening ear, a quiet mouth, a soft
touch and years of knowledge on subjects you have never experienced. Friends
pray for each other. True friends are also there to call you on the carpet when
need be and one of us might even throw a hamburger at your car window and walk
the steam for a few miles later laughing. (Inside joke for one of you) We have
survived these little tiffs together and separate which made our bond stronger.
I am so very blessed, so very thankful for the ladies in my
life and marvel they can even put up with my moods. Thank you ladies, for the
time of my life and I pray for many, many more years together. I love you more.
Teresa Gale
