We met in Alaska over a Tilly hat. Bob was wearing a white one just like Dad’s, and Bob was talking about mushrooms. I said, “Why did the girl mushroom like the boy mushroom? Because he was a fungi (fun guy).” Oh, we laughed. That was in Sitka. By the time we got to Juneau at the end of the week we were all best friends. There’s just something about Mary. If I look into it just a minute or two, I’m sure I’d find some great lifetimes together as sisters or best friends (or both). So when she e-mailed to let me know she was coming to Fargo, I was more than thrilled to get to spend more time with her. She’s a choral director and composer from Indiana, and the Fargo-Moorhead schools bought her textbooks to use for the music programs. She was coming out here to present to all of the music teachers, so got to stay with us for two days. Even amidst the sawing and pounding and dust due to our bathroom construction project, we were able to laugh and share stories. Even with the ringing phone and guitar playing and friends in and out, Boy Scout meetings and goopy rolls, we got to play Rummikub (the game Mary and Bob play every night, and taught me how to play while we were in Alaska), drink tea and learn more about each other.
What is this magic that is friendship? I’m not quite sure, but I’m pretty sure it’s the basic foundation of the whole Universe. I don’t know who I’d be without my friends. My Melissa, my Mags, my Maria and Micara and Connie and Nukhet and Karen and Donna and Chitra and Julia and and and… they are the sweetness in the air I breathe, they are the sprinkles on the frosting on my cake. They are the pauses in between the notes. They are the unexpected warm sunny days in November. My friends are my connection to the Divine, the remembrance that we are indeed, always connected to each other in Love, and right now I am so very very grateful for ALL of them, but today especially my dear friend Mary, who I just put on the plane back to Indiana. Am I sad? Yes, but knowing that she’ll be back here in March makes it a little more doable. And besides, there’s always the internet. Here’s to all of you, my dear friends. You know who you are. Know that you are dearly loved and precious to me.