Thursday, June 5, 2008

Autumn asks: Are you blessed with Long Time Best Friends?

There's nothing better than a best friend. Having moved so many times in life, I have many best friends. Today I checked out the MySpace page of my very first best friend. Julie and I met in Germany when we were both about to turn 10. We lived across the hall from each other. She is the first best friend I ever had. I had never had a friend that was so smart and easy going - I was drawn to her. Sadly, we only lived close to each other for about a year and half and then one of us moved on...I don't even remember which one of us went first.

Today, I checked out Julie's page and was floored by her talent. Not that she has this talent, mind you, but that all this time she has a regular job when she has writing talent just screaming to be published. It was also very humbling and made me feel rather foolish for even blogging! LOL! I don't have her gift of words...although I have the sarcasm down pretty good. You guys can check her out at http://www.myspace.com/JulieAW .
So my question today is: When did you meet your first best friend, and are you still in contact? Were you lucky enough to live in the same place all your life and have that friend by your side for years and years?

I have many best friends that I love. The hard part about moving so much is leaving these friends behind. The really good ones I am still in contact with and chase down occasionally. But the ones that aren't so good about letters or emails I have lost. The lost list includes: Jennie Potter (Elkhorn City, Kentucky) Nancy Newark (El Paso, Texas), Sheryl Fernandez (Panama City, FL) and Christie. I only use their full names because maybe someone out there knows them and will point them my direction!

The list of best friends still present and accounted for in my life include: Julie, Debbie, Rena -the bestest bestest, Kimberly, Cheryl & Becky, Celicia, Tricia-the next bestest bestest, Mary and my sister. I look at this list and can't believe how lucky I am. How many people can claim so many truly best friends? And my "favorite people" list is even longer.

To all my best friends....I love you!! I miss you!! Wish I was there!

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I'm still on track for my daily goal. Tuesday and Wednesday we were in Athens with family so the visit itself counts as doing something with the girls. Also, Songbird wanted to go Antiquing so we did. We also had a wonderful lunch at a lake marina that was oh so relaxing. The thing I like about going to Athens is that SIL's house is in the country. They have a covered porch out front with lots of furniture to sit on and we spent almost the whole time outside enjoying nature, playing Yatzee, talking or reading. Gives a whole new meaning to lazy summer day. I could live like that.

And the best thing about conversations with SIL is that our outlooks are so different in many ways that it makes for great discussions. And on the things that we don't agree on (respectfully) I come away from the conversation and think about that thing. In the end I either reconsider and expand my mind and opinions or I have a deeper faith in what I believe and why, by questioning myself over my views. Either way I feel a little wiser or stronger for having had that conversation. I'm a big believer in knowing why you believe what you believe. It makes life so much easier than not having a solid reason (even if it is only in your own mind) for your beliefs. I love a good conversation!

We went on our first of the 8 Great Dates last night. We actually just found a quiet spot and discussed the questions we were given as conversation material. It's really good stuff. Mostly this topic focused on change and how we handled change in the other partner. Are we respectful of their pace of change, do we allow them to make the decision to change, do we support them, etc. I think we ace 3 of the 4 points. Not so bad. So today begins the first of 40 days where we are supposed to pray together for at least 5 minutes. I have high hopes we make it through. Also, we are the first group to use this program and are part of a study being conducted by Baylor University. Pretty cool. But I think we'll skip the interviews....


5 comments:

  1. Awwwww! How lucky am I to have you as a friend? Pretty dang lucky! Thanks for these kind words--they are a great encouragement to me.

    I was the one who left Germany first. Remember that last night, when our families had dinner together and RB and you and I got in some silly argument over Pinky from "Happy Days" and barely spoke? Er...glad we got over that!!

    Your blogs are FANTASTIC, by the way! Don't sell yourself short, girlie!

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  2. Ack--that should have been "at RB."

    Sigh. Bang-up job of editing, eh?

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  3. I do have a very best friend. We "met" as babies, and now 32 years later here we are. She's actually coming to visit us on Saturday. She moved away when we were 14, but thankfully her family stayed in Texas and our moms helped us get together every summer. My other two best friends are so special to me in other ways - my sister and a cousin.

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  4. Geez Julie!
    Did we really argue over Happy Days? Did we even get Happy Days over there?? I must admit I have no recollection of this! LOL! I must have been being a butthead because you were leaving.
    A

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  5. you truly are a great friend. and i miss you. your blog is terrific. i read it every time we come to the library. it makes you seem not so far away. and you are truly blessed. to be able to list off so many people who you call true and dear friends... and for me to be included in that list is a huge honor. because i am a "newcomer" compared to the others. my list, including you, only has four names on it. and i too feel blessed. my grandma said that if in a lifetime, you had only one true friend, you had more than wealth could afford.

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