Make new friends, but keep the old...

...one is silver and the other's gold. Classic GS camp song.

I made that phone call to Trishia today and it just reiterated the fact that I miss her. I read somewhere that a true friend is one you can go a long time without talking to and when you finally do get a chance to catch up it's like there was never a lapse. The last time I talked to her was 2 months ago, on her birthday, yet we started up a conversation today like we'd spoken yesterday.

She used to be my neighbor, living a mere half mile from me. We saw each other several times a week, spoke on the phone sixty bazillion times a day, I babysat her son from the time he was 2 months old until he was, well....I watched him and his little sister last summer. We've been through pregnancies and childbirth together, the loss of our pregnancies together, childrearing concerns and downright cataclysms, marriage problems and husband gripes, countless tears and even more laughs. The baby I lost would be the age of her son now. The child she lost would be Abby's age now. Her daughter and Sam were born 2 months apart. Her husband is a redneck and y'all know mine is. She is more redneck. I am more diva. Yet, we are both geeks. She lived about a mile and a half from me growing up and was a part of the ruthless gang of bullies in the back of the bus. Yet, when I was in 7th grade and miraculously, by the grace of God, moved from a horrendous PE class to "gifted" class, she was a sophomore in the same class. Seeing her in that classroom the first day made my stomach do a miserable flipflop and I wondered if the abuse would continue even though she no longer rode the bus. But she took me under her geekly wing and we were geeks together. She called me up when she was pregnant with her son and asked if I'd be interested in adding him to my daycare roster. What followed was more than a caregiver/parent relationship, but a friendship that means the world to me to this day.

She moved nearly 2 years ago, not far, but far enough. We still stayed in contact talking at least every other day, but always calling after 9pm to take advantage of the unlimited nights and weekends. Then she went and got all employed. She tested and got her alternative certification to teach junior high math, taking the position of a teacher who really didn't give a crap about what or if he taught. She started from the ground up this school year, establishing her cirriculum with no help and is doing an awesome job. But in the process, she and I have grown apart. Yet we haven't. That's what I love about our friendship.

Trishia, here's to you, friend. Even if you did bully me on the school bus in grade school.