A Friendship for a Lifetime

On the first day of kindergarten inside a school built with old, stone walls, a friendship that would last a lifetime began when two 6-year old little girls choose one another.

A few years down the road, Kelli and I would find ourselves filled with disappointment on school orientations when we realized the others name wasn’t on the same class list as our own.  But regardless of whether or not we’d be sitting in the same classroom each week during that school year, we knew we’d STILL be spending our weekends together- talking all night and riding the go-cart early the next morning.

The years grew and so did our friendship.

In high school, we talked and laughed our way through our first job, first car, first kiss and first paycheck.

A few years later, we cried and said goodbye when Kelli’s family moved out of the house down the road that they’d all grown-up in.

Then, before we knew it, we hugged, laughed and got all-fancy when we stood beside one another when the other said “I Do.”

Moving tears AGAIN.  (This time, I was moving to Arizona.)

And before I knew it, I was BACK in Georgia.  Life was good. 

Then, things got bad.
She knew all my pregnancies were hard.  But, being the friend she was, she sensed there was more and insisted we meet.  So, as I sat over a plate of delicious food that I knew I’d be seeing again in a few hours, I told her the truth.  And, because of her love and encouragement, I got home and called my doctor to let them know I was not, in fact, okay.  (She’s THAT kind of friend.)

And just a few months back as we ate a crazy amount of sushi in small, dark restaurant, I needed her help AGAIN.
“Am I crazy for moving?  Would you do this if you were me?”
And she did EXACTLY what she does.
She assured me that, although moving away from everything I know and love will be hard, creating a life where Matthew is actually home with us IS the BEST thing for our family.

So, you can imagine how HAPPY I was to see Kelli when I returned to Georgia.   Here’s a few of her and her wonderful family…