Despite my pathetic short list of friends in my current city, I do have some very good friends who live elsewhere. One of those friends is Deanna. We’ve been friends since junior high. We giggled our way through study hall that first year and many other classes in the following years. We were inseparable during much of high school. We took our first trip to Europe together. We went away to college together (she left ½ way through our freshman year for a man…but that’s another story). We’ve lived together, scorned men together, celebrated together, vacationed together, studied together, and spent many, many hours laughing together. We had periods when we didn’t talk so much but we’ve always found our way back to each other.

If I have one image that captures the essence of our friendship, it would be the 2 of us laughing until we cried. That’s what stands out most – the laughter. We have grown older and considerably tamer over the years so now our laughter usually comes from talking about old times – but not always. Steve gets such a kick out of watching us together. We’ve gotten to the point that we don’t even tell the stories anymore, we just throw out a line from it and dissolve into tears.

Deanna is my oldest and best friend. She moved to Columbus, I moved here, and now there are 4 hours between us. I haven’t seen her since last December at her baby shower. Her daughter, Shelby, is 7 months old and I had never met her – until today. I can’t believe something so monumental has happened in her life and I wasn’t there. We got together today in our hometown in Ohio. I finally got to meet Shelby and see my crazy friend Deanna as a mother. It was wonderful to see them. Shelby is a total doll. I was so glad to finally get my hands on her adorable self!

Edited to add a sort of old photo of Deanna and me at the request of Tricia. I think she was hoping for one from the era of big hair and black eyeliner – fortunately that pre-dates the digital age. So here is a photo of us from one of our girls beach vacations circa 1996.

Speaking of friends: My dear friend, Amy, is having surgery. So I am sending lots of love her way. Feel better soon but listen to your doctor and keep your ass planted on that couch for a little while!