Friends in A day in the life...

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my friends lately, about friendship in general. Don’t you agree that life is more tolerable with good friends in it? I don’t have a lot of friends, but I go for quality over quantity. The friends I do have are true blue and I can’t imagine my life without them.

My friend Misty, for example. She lives in Oklahoma. I met her when I was married to my first husband, back in 1990. We were both married to total losers who happened to be on the same ship (the hubbies were in the Navy). The first time I met her was at the ship’s Christmas party and she scared me at first…lol. She was pissed off about something and she just looked....scary! But when I met her again after that we clicked immediately and a bond was forged. She was there for me through all the ugly that was my first marriage. Well, it was ugly except for the birth of my son, and she was there for that as well. We can go months without talking and then pick up like no time has passed at all. In 2008 my family and her family met in Florida and we vacationed together. It was a blast! She can be obnoxiously loud sometimes, but she has a heart of gold and is one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. I’m blessed to have her in my life.

Then there’s Jennifer. I met Jennifer in 2004, when we both started working at the same law firm. I started one week after she did so we kind of bonded because we were the new kids on the block. It didn’t take long to find out we lived in the same town, about a mile away from each other. So Tony and I had her and her husband Erik over for dinner one night and ever since then we’ve been the four musketeers. We’ve vacationed together and go camping together every Labor Day weekend. When the four of us are together there’s TONS of laughter! Tony and Erik (our hubbies) both have a crazy sense of humor and they play off each other perfectly. Those two have been responsible for me almost peeing myself on many occasions…lol. Jennifer is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. She’s quiet and a little shy when you first meet her but she opens up as you get to know her. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for the people she loves, and I’m thankful I’m one of them.

And then there’s my buddy Stacy, a/k/a mayonessa. I actually met her through a mutual friend of ours on Open Diary. I’ve never met her in person, but I feel like I’ve known her forever. That girl has a way with words and can make me laugh like no one I’ve ever known. She’s seen me through some really crappy times in my life and is one of my biggest champions. I pray the day comes when we’ll be able to meet in person. I just know we’ll have a blast! I love this girl with all my heart and if you’re reading this, my Texas fish, don’t ever forget that! I love you and I appreciate your friendship more than you’ll ever know!

And last but not least is R, my friend since I was 13 years old. We’ve been friends for over 30 years. I could honestly write a novel about our friendship and all the memories I have. She’s been a huge part of my life for well over half of my life. I love her with all my heart. I don’t know if this will make sense to any of you, but I’ve had to distance myself from her. She and I both have some mental health issues. We both suffer from bipolar disorder as well as severe anxiety. After my latest stay in the hospital I realized that I had to put some space between us or I would never get well. When she and I are both doing well, everything’s great. But when we’re not…then things are bad. We feed off of each other’s misery and I feel we do each other more harm than good. When I’m worrying about her, I don’t take care of me, and I feel she won’t get the help she needs and get better if she doesn’t focus on herself and herself only instead of me, her sister, and anyone else in her life that has problems. It’s easy to ignore your own issues when you focus on other people’s issues, and I think that’s what R does. Cutting ties with her was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I believe with all my heart that it was the right thing to do. I pray one day we’ll both be in a place where we can resume our friendship and it’ll be stronger and healthier than it was before.

So that’s what’s been on my mind lately…these four amazing women. I’m blessed beyond words to have and have had them in my life and I hope they all know how much I love and appreciate them.

I’ll say goodbye for now since I’m getting tired. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! And if I don’t get back here before then, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!! May you all have a blessed 2016!

Love,
Amy