The Greatest Friends

One of my greatest, lifelong friends is visiting tonight with her kids, having come back to the Midwest for a family medical emergency that has thankfully turned out okay. She and her family can still use your prayers, of course, especially for the recovering patient, as well as for my friend as she treks back across the country through difficult winter weather conditions. Thinking of her coming tonight, trying to prepare our home for the family's arrival, a few things occur to me:

• The greatest friends don't require that you get your house really clean before they show up. They know your deal, they don't care about your dust, or the weird mail clutter that is accumulating as you are trying to separate out junk magazines from tax forms.
• The greatest friends pick up the house for their visiting friends, anyway, because they want it to feel extra nice.
• The greatest friends are just happy to spend time with you, and don't ask that you figure out a special meal for them just because they have a food intolerance or allergy.
• The greatest friends go through their pantry, anyway, and then talk through every ingredient with their guest to make sure they can enjoy a beautiful meal without being sick.
• The greatest friends don't need to see each other all the time to have a warm, safe place in each other's hearts.
• The greatest friends sure like seeing each other as much as possible, anyway, no matter how secure their friendship is.
• The greatest friends get excited about getting to know and love each other's kids, embracing the role of honorary auntie
• The greatest friends get even more excited when their kids like each other, too, all on their own.

I wasn't a popular kid growing up, and even today, I still have moments when I can't believe I'm as lucky as I am to know so many wonderful people who seem to like spending time with me. Elementary school can teach you some pretty tough lessons about what it means to belong. It is nice to feel loved in the crowd.

To have a handful of tried-and-true friends, though, the kind who keep you simultaneously grounded and lifted up, laughing even while you need to cry, and who don't require a single thing from you except that you show up and be completely yourself—well, to have that is to have a blessing handed directly down from heaven.

I could go on and on, but pictures might say even more.

Baby shower hosted for friend's first,
back in the DC townhouse.

Honorary auntie meeting EJ for the first time,
after a car-trip across the country expressly for that purpose.

Second generation friendship can start early...

...and gets better with every visit.