You just never know when you will meet a person who will change your life forever.
In the third grade I met T. She sat at my table in Miss Dobson's class. When we walked home together we discovered that we had become next door neighbors.
My third grade photo
By all accounts we were as opposite as two little girls could be. I was a gangly brunette who loved barbies. T was a petite blond who loved softball. But somehow we became good friends and shared many childhood rites of passage such as ...
Halloween
Christmas
Birthdays
School talent shows
Slumber parties
Bi level haircuts~also now known as "the mullet".
Drivers ed, first kisses and prom.
At times, my childhood was really rough. But T was my constant. Even when I moved away from one foster home to another, I knew I could just call T and she would arrive in her Pontiac LeMans to take me anywhere I needed to go.
After graduation I moved far away, but that didn't stop us from being there for the adult milestones.
Weddings
Children
And the big one, turning 40.
She always makes me laugh...
...even when I want to cry. The past few years have been especially tough. I had to watch as Alzheimer's stole away the Papa Jack that I knew and loved.
I became his legal guardian and when I had to move him into a locked facility T drove several hours, so I wouldn't have to do it all alone. When he passed away, she once again was at my side to help me make all the arrangements so I wouldn't be by myself. I never could have gotten through the tough moments in life without her.
How do you thank a person who is so loving, giving and selfless? A person you know you can always count on no matter what. A mere "thank you" just doesn't even begin to feel like it would be enough.
"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last, one which makes the heart run over." ~Samuel Johnson
T, my heart is not just full of love for you, it has ran over. I am so thankful for the day on which you were born. Happy Birthday dear friend.
Be blessed!Labels: Family, Simple joys
Be blessed!