Friends, Real Friends.

This is Jill. I have mentioned her a few times and thought I should formerly introduce her!

 She is one of my dearest, best friends. She is that friend who is there. She is that friend who listens to me. She knows me and I mean really knows me. She never judges and can find the funny in any situation. And let me tell you, I have a lot of “situations!” We met when Ross and I moved across the street from John and Jill. Jill and I were both going through very difficult times in our lives.  Little did we know that we needed each other and that we would become great friends.

When we get the chance to talk, even if it’s a little  longer than a second because we happened to catch each other at a “good time” (you know, like in between diaper changes, while folding a mountain of laundry or picking mashed peas out of Harper’s hair) the conversations are always meaningful. And we totally understand each other’s “Hey – yea that sounds great – let me call you right back” conversations because we are raising our children and living in the craziness that goes along with that (which I love by the way).

She is that friend that comforts me when I am feeling down and celebrates with me when I have a ”there is no way life can get any better than this” moment. Sometimes we sneak away and gab over food and a few too many glasses of wine.

Jill and I are on the same wave length. Like the fact that we go to all of the same Doctors (which was not planned), both of our first babies were born prematurely, and we even have the exact same blood clotting disorder (Jill – I hope you don’t mind me sharing your medical info with the world…).  We are still discovering similarities that we have like the other day we found out that we both hate wet tile (like gag, gross, yuck)! And we always have little reminders that we are a lot alike - like when we wore the exact same shoes out the other day, no planning, just happened. And I am sure people thought “wow, those two women are wearing the same shoes… how cheesy” but we didn’t care. In fact, I like wearing the same shoes! – we must have awesome taste.

I get tickled when everywhere we go at least one person asks “are ya’ll sisters?!”  and when we reply “no” they always say “wow! ya’ll look just alike!”

Jill is so gentle, kind, thoughtful and sweet. She is one of the best mothers I know. She mellows me out. Makes me feel zen. She is better for my O.C.D. than any medication out there.

I am so blessed to have her in my life.

And I can’t talk about my friends without introducing Kyle.

Kyle is my sidekick. We need each other. I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it. She has been there through the good times and the bad. We have laughed for hours and held each other as we cried. We were best friends before I became a mother. Back when we were naive, wild and free, back when the world was a warm, fuzzy place and our days were filled with laying out at the river, sneaking sips of alcohol, eating sushi for dinner every night and the hardest thing we had to do was a kickboxing class at the gym.

Kyle has been right there with me through the hardest times in my life. We have shed countless tears together. She has seen me at my lowest point and yet she is still right there, always right there. She sat in my empty hospital room right after Cliff was born for hours waiting for me to come out of the NICU just so she could see me for five seconds while I woofed down the Everything Bagel with cream cheese she bought me and return to Cliff’s side in the NICU. She just needed to see me. Make sure I was ok. She gets me.

Then there is the fact that we talk on the phone everyday… at least 5 times a day. And when we aren’t on the phone we are texting each other. We just can’t seem to get enough. We never run out of things to chat about. Hearing her voice is my comfort through out the day. I need her. I send her pictures like this one all the time:

Kyle comes over and we sit in the middle of the playroom floor, sipping coffee, laughing at the kids and chatting the morning away. Time flies when I am with her. Sometimes we sit in silence and just her presence alone is all I need. Just for her to be there, by me. Kyle heals me because she is probably one of the only people in this world who saw me buckle over with pain, when Cliff got his diagnosis of CP her heart shattered with mine, she felt my pain, she was there. She cries happy tears with me when Cliff accomplishes a milestone he has never been able to do before. And she loves my children as much and Ross and I do. Kyle appreciates them. Celebrates them. Loves them as they are.

Kyle is real. She is there. We drive each other crazy sometimes, but that is what happens when you love someone, right? Kyle is comfortable. She is a fixer. And sometimes I need to be fixed. When I am broken, I call Kyle to fix me, mend my wounds, she makes everything better. She is good at that.

Kyle. She gets me.

I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends. This is what life is all about! God, family, friends, connecting to others, creating a bond.