Friends for Life

    There are some people in our lives that seem to have always been there.   Their presence has been constant even if their proximity has not.  It is a rare gift and blessing  to be a part of a relationship like this.  There are things in our lives that we just know for sure,  relationships that we have never doubted, friends that have been a part of your life for nearly all of your life.  Each one holds memories that may have been misplaced by the other , and each will return a precious memory that may have been lost long ago.  You have watched one another transform and evolve,  you have each experienced major life stages in different ways, but you know the story of one another.  There was never a single time during this entire lifelong process when you did not love and care about one another.   Yes.  It is that special.

    Heidi and Susie.  Susie and Heidi.  The names come in different sequences, but always with love and almost always together.  The photos above were taken on a mountain in New Hampshire September 2008, you see I had been diagnosed with breast cancer a few shorts days before and the first place I fled to was the loving arms of these two woman.  We spent a weekend together where I fed off their love and strength and prepared myself for what was to come.  

    You see I am completely , and unequivocally  assured of the friendship and love that we all share.  I really always have been, but their selfless act of love and kindness, set in stone that assurance forever.

The details are lengthy so let me just say that after three operations, a massive infection that sent me to Mass General in a snow storm, five days in the hospital on IV antibiotics, and the seemingly insurmountable knowledge that I would not be allowed to have reconstructive surgery for six months, I found myself in a place darker than I ever thought possible.  My dear sweet husband, watched from the sidelines as I slipped further and further away, watched as I sat on the couch day after day, eyes fixed on the television, wearing the same pajamas, and refusing to even take a shower.  In a desperate attempt to pull me out of my tailspin Brian reached out to the only people he knew loved me as much as he did. 

Bless them both, they came, I am not sure what they each had happening in their lives at the time, but they came.  I was taken by surprise as I sat in my despair and did not react well to their great kindness.  I actually ran up stairs and locked myself in the bathroom, yup, some friend right ?  When I think of it now I cringe.  I lay there on the floor as Heidi and Sue knocked repeatedly on the door, and begged me to open up.  I am not sure how long it went on but I never did open that door.
    To this day there has never been a reproach from either of my deeply wonderful friends.  Our friendship did not receive the smallest scratch from my outlandish and selfish behavior.  I am sure I have thanked them for their kindness, possibly not as many times as I should, but I have shared this story on many occasions.  When someone speaks of friendship, or remarks on the lack of it in a relationship, I will tell this story as a litmus test.  Proof of deep friendship:   if they come when called, if they can forgive the unforgiveable…………..keep them, for they are truly your friend.

Thanks again Sue and Heidi.