A true friend

Over the years I have had friends come and go. Sometimes life just isn't always conducive to maintaining long term relationships especially if life takes you in different directions both physically and emotionally. Some friendships I have tried to hold on to only to find out that the friendship is just a ghostly reminder of a past gone by. Others drift away because we become different people with different ideas about what life should be. Then again there are those rare people in our lives that never seem to leave. Those, I have found, are the ones to hold on to.
This last weekend my girlfriend, Jody, came in for a short visit. I have written about her here in previous posts, but a little refresher wouldn't hurt. I have known Jody since 1992. We have been really good friends since 1995. In Florida, we lived in the same neighborhood for 2 of the years we lived there. Sometimes we go a long time without talking to each other, but somehow (usually because of her) we have kept in touch.
Through the years, she has had many bumps in the road (as have I), and through it all, she has always known she could talk to me, mostly because she knew I would just listen and not judge her. In December, she lost her baby while in her 4th month. It devastated her. I felt helpless to offer her any consolation. She lives in Georgia, and I am here. I felt like I could only try and understand her loss and offer compassion. A few weeks after Christmas, she called me to say she wanted to come visit me. I don't know why, but I somehow felt honored that she would want to come here after everything she had just gone through.

We had a nice relaxing weekend, and until today, the weather was wonderful. We went running up City Creek Canyon, went to the mall and shopped, went out to eat, went to a movie (ya know ...a chick flick), walked in the park, made stew together, drank 3 bottles of wine, and just talked for hours. I think it must have been relaxing for her since her home has a fairly demanding husband and a loud and active 7 year old. I think being here, she was just able to relax and have it be quiet.

What I didn't expect though, was how happy I was to have her around again. We talked about books, our work, our families, our husbands, and of course...sex. I began to realize that I needed her as much as she needed me. I realized that I am lucky because I can see the future and she will always be a part of it in some form or anther. But most importantly, I can see that although I have always told myself I can "do it on my own," that I really do need others. I do need people just to be there for me as much as I am there for them. Having her in my life is a gift and a joy.
As she left, I gave her a hug and told her how great it was to see her. She replied with, "we have to do this more often." I smiled and replied, "count on it."