Friend's visit

My best friend, Petra, came to see me this weekend, from her home in Big Sky Country. It was SOOOOO good to spend time with her. The hubby, her and I have known each other for 9 years now. We all worked together, once upon a time, in the same ICU. It was strange for us to realize that 9 years have passed since that. Her and I went through that life altering experience of "What!? THIS is life?!? This is what we went all the way through high school, all through college, to get this degree for THIS??" I think many people think life starts after high school, after college, after you get married after blah blah blah.....We were younger then...23 or 24 maybe... and maybe the fact we were working in an ICU at such a young age made us face our mortality. I remember sitting on her deck, enjoying a libation, watching people go in and out of the Dairy Queen... we were chatting... and then there was a long pause..... and we were said "So this is it, huh? This is what we busted our butts for in college?!" And then I think we both realized, that no, this (the job) it was a source of income. It paid the bills and gave us a means to buy things we needed. Life is all about things like this weekend. Walking through a pasture, listening to frogs. Sitting around a fire, making smores and cracking jokes. Taking a long walk on a gravel road, sharing our thoughts and fears about our skin, our weight, our husbands, our dreams. To have a friendship that allows you to tell the same things to over and over, and you never have to fear they are tired of listening to you, that is part of Life. We have both grown, changed, made mistakes and learned along the way. But, through it all, we have only grown closer.

I feel so very blessed to have Petra in my life. Every woman deserves and needs a friendship like this. We talk most everyday. The Hubby thinks we should just have a direct line put in. "What can you possibly talk about." He is a boy. He just doesn't get it. But women out there, you know what I am talking about. She is that one who is always there for you, and will always be there for you. And you can always find something to talk about.