This holiday weekend was book-ended by my two best friends. We’ve been bosom buddies since grade school and junior high. One was my maid of honor, the other my matron of honor at my wedding, way-back-when.
Even after months without seeing each other in the flesh, when we are together again it seems as if we’ve never skipped a beat. A rhythm of nostalgia, inside jokes and mutual admiration create a cadence of camaraderie. A groove of gratefulness. Moments full of mojo.
Reminds me of the old Girl Scout song:
“Make new friends,
but keep the old.
One is silver,
the other is gold.
A circle is round,
it has no end.
That’s how long,
I will be your friend.
A fire burns bright,
it warms the heart.
We’ve been friends,
from the very start.
You have one hand,
I have the other.
Put them together,
We have each other.
Silver is precious,
Gold is too.
I am precious,
and so are you.
You help me,
and I’ll help you
and together
we will see it through . . . “
Also reminds me of Proverbs 18:24, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Today I’m celebrating these two friends: friends who’ve stuck by me in braces and parachute pants; bad perms and band camp; proms and brew parties; bad boyfriends and eight college major changes; graduations, births and deaths. These friends stood beside me on my marriage day, and embraced me through the births of my children and the awkward, distant years spent fighting perinatal mood disorders and abuse recovery.
And I will never be able to thank them or love them enough in return for the richness they’ve added to my life.
Do you have a friend like this?
Someone maybe you need to call or hug or write today?
P.S. I found this artwork online at blueshoesart.com. Check it out! It has a lot of really cool, original folk art!
I’m a thirty-something mama & wife trying--moment-by-moment--to follow hard after Jesus' scent. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and perinatal mood disorders, this site is my gift to you: a celebration of brokenness, hope, healing, life, art, and all the miraculous moments in between.
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