Old Friend Week!

It must be old friend week! I had the distinct privilege of meeting up with another one of my oldest and dearest friends quite suddenly yesterday. After my breakfast meeting with an old friend Saturday, I tried to track down another friend - and it seems "by coincidence" (which, of course, I don't believe in) she was traveling from her home in Minnesota down to Tremont to visit her parents. So I called her parents' home and left a message and voila! Yesterday we got together in between my appointments and had a wonderful "catch up" visit. She's the kind of friend who, even though you haven't talked for years, after the first sentence, it's just like you've never been apart - it was wonderful. During the course of the conversation she asked me how I had resisted the urge to be bitter after all that had happened to me and I told her that, of course, I have had my moments (actually hours or days) fighting that, and that, in fact, I had just had a very whiney encounter with those kind of emotions recently, but that one thought always brings me back to my center and that thought is this: I have my children. They are (and undoubtedly have always been) my motivation to continue on, to be mentally healthy (as much as a pre-menopausal woman can be mentally healthy!), to pursue my Christian walk, etc., etc. They are worth everything to me - my best friends, the people I would rather spend time with than anyone else. Keep your exotic vacations, your fancy cars and nice houses - I ended up with my kids and a relationship with them that means more to me than anything else you could offer. When I looked up at my friend, she had tears in her eyes and I realized at that moment, once again, just how lucky I am.