Friends For Life

Thinking about sled riding yesterday brings back other childhood memories, like the fun to be had at a sleepover. I don't think having a friend over, or going to a friend's house happened a lot for me growing up, so when it did, it was always a big deal.

My best friend growing up was Jencene Bender. We weren't just best friends, we were also first cousins. She was almost exactly 2 months older than me, which was great for her. You see, when we were getting into the whole boy thing, for those two months, she could say she was older than me.

 Jencene and Dianne. Pretty  much inseparable during our childhood. We were Apache Warriors. (Hey Jess, do you remember that? And the trail through the woods behind the church?)

Playing pirates: Isabella and  Josephina
(Hey Jencene, I remembered after I hung up!)

 I loved going to her house Sunday afternoons after church, or for that occasional sleepover. The refrigerator was always stocked with wrapped slices of Kraft American cheese which I loved but my family seldom had.

But that's not really the reason I loved being there.

Being with my friend for hours of talking, exploring by the creek, pretending to make cigars out of bamboo reeds, climbing up the trellis onto the roof, listening to The Hobbit on the record player, or sledding down their steep treacherous driveway...now, those were just a few of the reasons I loved being there.

You see, Jencene knew me, the real me, like no one else. And she still liked me! She knew my secrets, she understood my dreams. She was a true friend.

We grew up and although life changed, and we changed, we have stayed friends. I got married at age 18 and she went to college. Her oldest child is about a year older than my fourth child. Although we may have still been in the same book, we were in different chapters.

Our friendship, although different now as we are older, has remained a source of joy for me. We don't talk  or see each other as often, but when we do, it's like it had only been since yesterday. We share the love of gardening and the wish that fairies were real. We are co-conspirators of puppet scripts. She makes me laugh and understands the quirkiness and weirdness that sometimes makes us laugh together until we are crying.

She even forgave me (I think) when I laughed at her uncontrollably while she was trying to drive a stick-shift and the whole mailbox incident that occurred.

So today, call a friend. Thank them for being there. Let them know how much they are loved.
Thanks you Jencene for many, many good memories and laughs. Thank you too for sharing my tears. I love you!!

As Dr. Suess characters...Lala-Lee-Lou