In my previous post I talked about wanting to be a good friend. Well, here's a friend that has been there for me ever since I met her. (For those who don't know her) this is Natalie. We met and quickly became friends in the fall of 2004. Within a few short months, I started counting her as my best friend. We were each struggling with being first-time moms, and it wasn't all that we thought it was cracked up to be. We strengthened and supported each other as we've been each other's "safe" person.
A year after we met, I went into premature labor with Clarissa. It was then that I knew that I could never lose Natalie as a friend. She happened to show up on my doorstep minutes within me going into labor (unbeknownst to her -- she was just following a prompting to ask us when she could bring dinner down). She didn't even hesitate and took Jackson as Matt and I rushed to the hospital. She came to my house every day after that for a long time. It was probably hard for her to hear all of my stories and woes, but day after day she listened to my grief. She even made a road trip with me to my home in Nevada (there's not much to see or do there, so bless her for enduring that).
I've watched Natalie help others as well. She is so non-judgmental. In her family and her husband's family, she deals with issues all of the time that I'm not sure how I would handle them. She has taught me to open my mind and my heart to all people -- no matter their struggles, lifestyles, or handicaps. She tries so hard to help others. I know that her in-laws are so excited for her to move close to them within the next few months.
Now come the tears. I will miss Natalie tremendously. I'm already trying to plan a trip to visit her after she moves. I'm sure I'll have withdrawals after she leaves; she's been a crutch for me. I just hope I can be a friend to others the way she's been to me. I love you, Natalie!
I know how hard it is to have a friend far from you. But I am on the oppisite end, I am the one who moved. It will get better and you will find there are so many other wonderful women who become your friends.
ReplyDeleteWow, it sounds like such a wonderful friendship you two have. I'm sorry you have to be separated by so many miles. I'm willing to bet that you were every bit as good to her as she has been to you though. If there's one thing about you LeMira, it's that you are a good and faithful friend! And mom, and Saint, and... Oh, wait. That's three already. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteMaking me blush women. And people really she makes me sound like a saint, which I'm not. Ask my Husband! :) Everything she said can be sent right back at you. I am trying not to think about the distance. Good thing Al Gore invented the internet A! Love you always
ReplyDelete