That's what friends are for...

Throughout our lives we accumulate (for lack of a better word) friends.  There are some friends that will be in our lives for only a short time, and then there are those that stick.  The ones that stick forever are usually few in number and you come to cherish those friends as a life line to your own sanity.  I have a few of these friends, the ones that I know that no matter what we will always be there for each other...and I love them like sisters.  My friend, Lois, and I have been friends for probably going on 12 years now.  We are of one mind and one soul.  I think we were twins split up in Heaven.  Sometimes it scares me how much we think alike (if you knew her thoughts, it might scare you too).  We aren't friends that talk daily or weekly (anymore), but when one of us needs the other, we know that the other will always be there.  And by "be there" I mean, if the other one needs to be laughed at, reprimanded, made fun of, cried with, or the like, we give each other a call or email, physically we haven't even seen each other in almost 3 years, but that doesn't matter.  I love Lois because I know that no matter what I have done, she will make me see the path that I should have taken...for example...upon hearing about my skirt incident at church, she sent me the following email (editing is for names and a tiny bit of clarity only...the words and the meaning have been left intact):

"You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to seduce the unsuspecting elders with your totally unprovoked striptease!  How do you think that made your child feel?  And did you even think about the way it might effect D?  Did you even ask him before you just opened up your marriage for swinging?  I mean, I know that you have a strong sexual urge, and that you always have been inappropriate and immodest, but come on...church.  Where else can people go to shelter or seclude themselves from all the worldly pressures and undue improper harassment?  And just so you know, the fact that you quickly repented (mostly because you were already in the company of a bishop and counselors), does not make it right.  You know as well as I that if something is preplanned and carried out, a simple "sorry I stripped at church, it won't happen again" just doesn't cut it.  That image will be burned into the minds of so many people, and they will fight to make it stop.  I hope your carnal desires have been satisfied for the time being.  And I will do my best not to bring it up again.  Everyone deserves a second chance."

If responses like that don't make you feel better about your mistakes, what will? Thanks to Lois, I have seen the light and my clothes will now remain on throughout every church meeting!  What would I do without her?  To me, that is the joy of my friends...life is too short to hide in embarrassment when things go wrong, so together we help each other find the laughter in all things...even the humiliating!  This is a tribute to Lois, Hero, and Angel...because they always help me to laugh in the midst of crying, and cry in the midst of laughing (mostly because I am laughing so hard), and to all my other friends, even those I don't see or talk to often, you are in my heart and you make life enjoyable!  

On an end note, I would like to share one last thought from Lois on parenting: "Can't we just freeze [our children] so that we can thaw them out when we are all rested and ready to parent?  And then, when the going gets rough, we could just stick them in again.  Oh well, they sure do make us tired, and upset, and scared, and annoyed, but aren't they the greatest things ever!"  

My thoughts exactly...