Yummmmm!

Well, I officially know how to make pie........

BFF! (I think I'm too old to use that!)

Howcomethat when you feel like you finally have your house, life, kids, food, (insert daily chores here!) under control you look up from your bucket of soapy water to realize you can't remember the last time you talked to a grown-up?

So, I always feel it's sad when friendships lapse just because we get too busy or we don't make and effort because the other party never seems to see it this way. Due to our overwhelmingly human sensibilities, we make up a vast myriad of reasons why our friends have drifted.

"They don't like me anymore."

"I must have said something." We then proceed to analyze every conversation with said person back through middle school.

"They have lots of more important friends."

This may sound very self-depricating to you, but I'm willing to bet it also sounds somewhat familiar. I don't care who you are, or how amazing you think you are, no one escapes the reality of shaken self-confidence.

I have a friend. My best friend. We live in different towns, attend different churches, and have very different friendship circles. We are not related in any way. (That's a big deal in my small-town world!) But, all these things don't seem to make a difference when it comes to our time together. Well.......in winter.

All winter long, almost every day, we talk a minimum of an hour on the phone. Never about much, and often without actually saying anything to each other. We basically act as another adult presence as we go about the motions of parenting our kids. (A really valuable thing in times of extreme emotions!) I cherish this relationship more than I can properly put into words. I'd probably embarrass myself or her in the process.

Summer comes. We spend the hours we would have been on the phone running around outside with our kids, going to the beach, taking walks, etc. And not together, either. What was an intense, daily relationship becomes a semi-monthly (if we're really diligent) chat on facebook. Or the occasional call to ask a question about something we know they other person is familiar with. To an outsider, it looks as though the friendship is completely gone. I haven't seen my friend for months, haven't talked on the phone for more than 2 minutes since the temperature held above 20 degrees. But she is still my best friend.

Know why?

Because I know when the snow flies again, my phone will ring, and my kids will think I grew a black, phone-shaped tumour on my ear. I love her. But mostly, I love that we can have this kind of timeless relationship. It doesn't matter how long the summer of our relationship lasts, (yes, I realize this is backwards but it works here!) I know we will be right back where we were when it turns cold. Friends will come, and go. I know this from experience. But I plan on doing my part to keep a friendship as enduring and comfortable as this one from going the way of the dinosaur.