Friends!

So I got a little sappy on Pinterest today when I saw a quote about friendship and started my own "Friends" board.  

Moving to a new place always makes me reflect on friendship.  Probably because when you move to a new place you find yourself short on friends.  Since we've moved back to the midwest after six years in Santa Barbara I've managed to maintain weekly conversations with my three best friends (did you know you can have three-way phone conversations on the IPhone?!)  and it has made me really think about what it takes to be a friend and what I'm willing to put towards those friendships that I think could last a lifetime.

I'm really lucky because I have an awesome actual-family.  Not everyone does.  And to top it off, I have these close friends that I also consider "family" at this point.  When you move across the country and your closest family members are thousands of miles away, you kind of have to create your own local family.  After six years functioning as family members, I feel pretty confident that these ladies will continue to be my family for years to come, if not forever.  We've vacationed together, celebrated holidays together, laughed, cried, mourned and carried each other.  We are family.

I laughed when I read this one because it makes me think of Katherine.  You know that situation where people say something and you're like "What the?" but for whatever reason you shouldn't react that way and so you try to keep a straight face?  In those situations I have to keep my eyes away from looking at Katherine because I know I'll lose it if I see her face.  It makes me giggle just thinking about it.

When I was in the hospital in August I spent two nights there trying to deliver the baby.  I don't think I'll ever forget my conversation with JoAnn that first night.  I was high on morphine and she was tipsy on margaritas- she'd been at her "going away" party back in Santa Barbara earlier in the evening.  The minute she answered the phone she started crying.  Here she was, two thousand miles away, celebrating her husband's new job and their exciting future, but still feeling my pain.  

I don't think I started feeling better after losing the baby until my friends came to visit me.  All three of them made trips to Illinois in October- Marissa and Katherine all the way from Santa Barbara (Marissa with a 1 year old in tow) and JoAnn from Mississippi.  They sacrificed their time and money to travel all the way to central Illinois to see their sad friend.  It was only after their visits that I felt the weight of depression start to lift and could start to climb out of the sadness.

 I know, we aren't really sisters, but we're the closest thing to it for me and this is part of my friendship code.  I've got your back ladies.