I'm Grateful for You- Lattes and Life
It's not your typical friendship. In fact, I can't even remember the last time we saw each other in person. It might have been at my bachelorette party and that was about ten years ago now. Remember those things called web rings? They were all the rage in the new millennium right along with message boards. Tiffany and I met on one of those message boards. Both new west coasters, trying to find jobs and the only thing we initially had in common was that we were girlfriends of Marines. We bonded over that and our shared geography.
I don't know when we first started breaking away from the message boards and only talking about our boyfriends and their deployments but our first meeting was quite memorable. We decided to get together at Balboa Park. A beautiful park in the heart of San Diego. There is an amphitheater, a science center, gorgeous views and oh yeah, an exhibit on instruments of torture. That's where we decided to hang out. It was then that I knew we would be friends.
Did I imagine that a few marriages, numerous moves around the country, a divorce and more babies than you can shake a stick at would find us still friends? No, I didn't. Our friendship for so long has only consisted of emails. How we remained in touch through so much upheaval after only meeting a handful of times could be a mystery. Except for one thing. She is always there. She senses in me, my tweets, my blog posts and emails when I'm going over the edge, things are really freaking me out and just lets me vent like mad. She isn't in my daily life, watching it all unfold and can give the best advice. She listens like a true friend because that's all we have. I certainly hope I do the same for her.
Ours is a friendship born of technology and maintained that way. Something truly modern and wonderful. I am grateful for her guidance, support and cheer. Her understanding and heart. She writes one hell of a blog that is a true gem and has an amazing voice. She's fearless and funny and never backs down. All things I cherish and admire in a friend. I am so glad that no matter what life has thrown at us we have never lost touch. It would have been so easy to lose track of emails, forget to hit that 'reply' button and just move on.
Thank you, Tiffany for all your years of friendship. I'm so grateful we are still friends. I'm proud of you and all you have done. You are one amazing woman.
