Friends

I called an old friend of mine tonight to chat. I called to ask her a question about someone she knows whom I now know, but we ended up talking about life. She told me what was going on in her life and all of the changes she is making. She told me about being scared because she is going to quit her full time job in order to go to school full time. She told me about being worried about her math and science classes. We've been out of high school for 15 years now (seriously?!) and she is starting from scratch. But I told her she'd be okay and if she needed help she knew lots of people who could be there for her. She told me about her new calling in church and what she was worried about and frustrated with. Then she asked how I was. She asked about our new house and the new ward. She asked about my kids and how my family was doing. We talked about making plans to get together with the other girls we have known for forever. I think of this girl and I think of my life and I can't remember her not in it. I don't have a memory of when I didn't know her. And that is the same for many of the friends I still have today. Lately I've felt a little lonely for friends. Not that I don't have any, but sometimes they feel so far away, even when they are not. I don't take the time to always pick up the phone and call a friend like I did tonight. I have not talked to this girl since we went out to dinner back in April or May, but when I called her tonight it was so nice because it was like talking to my sister. And that is what she is. We grew up together, this group of girls who I love so much. And the reason we're all such good friends, the reason we can be so close even when we don't talk all that much is because we're like sisters. And every time I am with them or talk to them I am always uplifted. They always say something I need to hear, they always make me happy to be me. The Lord put them in my life for a reason and there is something special about the friendship we all share. We're all very different in so many ways but we have a common thread that seems to keep us knit together. And I know that thirty years from now, or even more, I'll feel the same way about them as I do now.