My Dear Friend

11 years ago, almost to the day, I met a girl. We were in childbirth class - both expecting our first babies. Instantly, I was drawn to her. I even thought that she looked like me. Come to find out, we had mutual friends and as we got to know each other we discovered that we had a lot more than that in common. We became best friends... almost instantly. We talked every day on the phone - she even called when she traveled to another continent. I had other friends, but none like her. She was my other-half in many ways. We did everything together. Really. Almost everything. We saw each other a few times a week even though we lived a good half hour apart. Eventually, her family moved to my family's part of town, and we lived a mile apart. We saw each other almost daily then. It was great! Meanwhile, she had a second baby then we both got pregnant and shared that experience. I was with her - holding on to her, yelling "push" - when her precious third baby came into the world. That was an experience that I will always cherish. Always! Time passed, and we continued to raise our babies together. We went to church together, started a MOPS group together, took our families camping together, scrapbooked together, made friends together. We did everything... together. More babies came - twins for her, 2 miscarriages followed by a baby boy boy for me. Life got busy, and we seemed to be on different paths. Sometimes they intersect, and in those times I find comfort... like I am with an old friend... but most of the time I just really really miss her. Miss the way things were. As her birthday approaches, she has been on my mind almost constantly. I am sad that things could not have remained the same as they were when our little girls were our everything, when our phone calls were the highlight of our days, and when our outings together were what we looked forward to each week. I miss you, my dear friend.