Twelve Years!

I was reminded by my friend, Diane, that we met 12 years ago today. It was January 18, 1997. I was living in Wisconsin, having only moved their 4 months before. She and her husband moved to Wisconsin a few months before me. We were in a store at the mall, I with my ex and she with her husband. My ex said something like, "That couple is from England." We had been there in 1996 for the second time and we loved England. Anyway, I didn't have any friends and I jumped at the chance to meet someone from a country I love. We were chatting and we soon realized that neither one of us was working or really knew very many people. We exchanged phone numbers and made tentative plans to go out for lunch. We've been friends ever since. She was there for me when I went through my divorce and was an invaluable friend and ally. I took her to Arkansas to see another part of my country and she met my parents. We took a trip to Minneapolis to see a play and shop at the Mall of America. I even stayed with her grandparents and parents on one of my trips to England (after splitting from the ex). We were family. She made living in Wisconsin bearable. And then I moved to Missouri. She and her husband moved to France.

She is still there with her husband and two boys. I flew to France to visit her when I was pregnant with my second child, leaving Kendall back with my husband. She flew out to Pennsylvania when my second child was a year old. The two of us went to King of Prussia for a girls' weekend. It was fun. I hope we can rendezvous one of these days again but it gets more difficult with kids' schedules and busy lives.

We are complete opposites. She is tidy and organized and I am a hopeless slob! She plans her days and I wake up not knowing what to do next. She even says I am just like her husband (not always a compliment)! Somehow, we get along.

Thanks Diane for being a great friend! I hope we have many more years ahead of us to gripe about husbands, celebrate good things and watch each others children grow.