Dearest, loveliest, most patient friends...
I thought about you today. I actually think about each of you all the time but in this moment, I'm grounded in the fact that time is fleeting and my need for you to know a few things is strong.
Each time I think about you, a new memory of our earlier times comes forward. And it always makes me giggle, smile or nostalgic for a time that has clearly passed. I'm reminded of the fact that each of you holds a special place in my heart and that no matter how much time passes between our time together or our phone calls, I carry each of you with me.
I will never forget...
- being rescued by you in the middle of CDG Airport in Paris after missing my flight, running from concourse to concourse at JFK with a 40lb backpack on my own at the ripe age of 19.
- the numerous times you held me as I cried - breakups, arguments, changes, and big news. And that one time you sat just a few feet away from me (with your back turned so as not to interfere) as I had a truly challenging conversation with someone much older than me. You did not leave my side knowing I needed you in that moment.
- that time on the street in Edinburg when you pulled me onto the sidewalk when I looked left when I should've been looking right! (Whew! So hard to remember they come from the opposite direction there!)
- the road trip through France when the times I almost wet myself laughing with you are too numerous to count! Wine country. Paris. Normandy. Ice Cream. Coffee. Lots of wine. Did I mention wine + coffee? (It deserves two mentions!)
- that big box of pregnancy and birth stuff! I wouldn't be working in the birth world without that ginormous box of love....and the seeds you planted.
- the way you each share your heart, so openly and with so much trust. We are sisters and you know it.
- the times we have laughed and cried together through weddings and birth stories and becoming mothers. Those moments keep me going...that shared experience is worth everything when the times are more challenging.
- that time you came from New York JUST for my baby shower.
- they way you never hesitate to be a guide - you're inspiring just by the love you give no matter who needs it.
- each walk we took through the streets of Paris + New York City - as I walked off my past and welcomed my future. Your guidance and influence is immeasurable to this day. I embraced a new part of myself that would not have been uncovered without you. I never get sick of talking with you.
- that time you saw that I needed a BIG change and let me live with you in that TINY NYC apartment with your adorable cat that looked like Bugs Bunny. True friendship means surviving a 300sq ft apartment together!
- celebrating you as you became mothers. As you chose not to become mothers. As you wondered about becoming a mother. Big questions....I met them with you and hope we get to meet many more as they come.
- each time we shared an announcement, birth, wedding, death...you each have walked those experiences with me.
And...
I know I am not the best communicator. I suck at sending thank you notes. I never remember to send birthday cards. And sometimes you call and I'm unable to call you back right away. Thank you for continuing to reach out even when the response isn't what I would wish it to be all the time.
But each of you are my sisters. Your influence on my being is worth so much to me. And no matter how much time passes, please know I think you all more than once a day. I wonder where you are - what you're doing. How you're being challenged and your successes. I miss the freedom of those old times and the way life seemed to be easier...and I miss you.
I love you ladies. Each of you. More than you know.