A Good Start

Today I met up with my best friend, Carla, for lunch. I've known Carla since we first met in college 39 years ago this year. She is one of the very, very few people in my life who has known me when I was a teenager all the way up to now. We were college roommates and shared an apartment when we were in our twenties. We were the maid-of-honor in each other's weddings. She's one of my son's Godmother.

We've led parallel lives, getting married and having children all within the same few years. Even our weight tends to be the same and as we get older, we tend to have the same health problems.

We don't get to see as much of each other as we would like. Although we only live a few miles apart, we both have separate and busy lives. That's why it's so good to start out the new year with a good, long visit. Each time we meet up, it's like we are carrying on a conversation we were having the day before - or maybe even 40 years before.

She is blessed with several sisters, I am not. She's the closest thing I have to a sister sibling and these days, that means a lot. I know that she'll be there for me, even if we can't get together too often.

And I hope she knows that I'll be there for her too.