♪♫ If You're Ever in a Jam, Here I Am ♫♪

I am late with this post as I had wanted to post it on her actual birthday, April 17th, but Easter kind of got in the way. Last Thursday, my best friend turned 50. I turned the corner on that milestone 6 months ago, and she was right there to share it with me which is no surprise, as she has always been there for me. She is my best friend. Now, a lot of people say they have many best friends, but I can't get on board that train. If we really searched ourselves and were truthful we could all pinpoint one person that good times and bad are the one person we know we can count on. They know EVERYTHING about us, and they are still our friend. In fact they have probably been there for several of the most embarrassing moments of our lives. My best friend is no exception! I met her in my first year of middle school, 7th grade in 1976. I firmly believe that middle school is the seventh level of Hell. We are thrown together in a totally new environment where we have to change classes and remember locker combinations and the evil of all evils (cue ominous music) change for gym class. Stir into that pot a big helping of hormones, and you have the recipe for chaos and disaster. Because of this lethal combination, I think this is when we form our strongest bonds with friends as we are clinging to each other for survival as we navigate the dangerous waters far from the protective Armada we called elementary school. My middle school was a campus style school, so as we arrived each morning we would have to wait outside leaning against the wall of our homeroom. This is where I first met Lisa. I can still see her, long blond hair, glasses. I don't even remember how or what caused us to meet, but we became fast friends and spent most of 7th grade inseparable. We even had a crush on the same guy. Remember that thing about embarrassing moments? She and I shared a major one in Middle School. We had both been cast in the Drama Club's production of "Little Women," she as Meg and me as Jo. When opening night came we had never been through the whole show, not even once. I'm not even sure we had read the script all the way through. To this day I don't know how we got through it. I think we actually just made up the ending on the spot. We laugh about it now, but back then we were terrified. On to high school and we had Honors Biology together. I have no idea what I was thinking signing up for that torture. We sat at lab tables, and when we would have tests, the class was asked to move to the ends of the table so we couldn't cheat. Many times Lisa and I would read the first question silently and simultaneously look up at each other with that all too familiar look of horror indicating that neither one of us had the slightest idea how to answer the question. I barely squeaked by in that class. We did shows together,  created a French meal together and had sleepovers, and she even went on vacation with me. We spent countless days at Kings Dominion and acted out their show "Hooray for Hollywood" in her living room. Did I mention embarrassing? Over the last 38 years we have had our ups and downs. We even went through our first pregnancies together as her children are only 3 weeks younger than mine. At the darkest time in my life when I suspected that my marriage was about to fall apart, I called her, and after working a weekend shift at her job, she came over to sit with me and try to distract me from the hell my mind was going through. When my marriage was finally over, and I had nothing, she and her husband showed up with huge amounts of food to help us through. When my dad died and then shortly after that, my grandmother, she was right there with food and helping hands at the house as my sister and I were busy with other arrangements. We can go months without seeing each other and get together and pick up conversation like we talked on the phone the day before. I know she will always be there for me, and I for her. She's beautiful and smart and fun, and I love her, and I am sure we will be friends until we're so old we can't remember each other's names, and I am so glad! So..Happy Birthday, BEST FRIEND! Here's to 50 more!