The Dog Ate My Homework (for Melissa)
Well, okay. It wasn’t actually my homework. It was a card I wrote for an exceptional friend, a handwritten, beautiful card, that I was so excited about mailing and having her receive. I thought the postman had taken it away, but then I found the envelope, muddy and chewed, beside the front porch.
She saw the card lying on my kitchen counter when she came over to craft one night. I wondered when I saw her looking if she suspected it was for her. I think she might need a pick-me-up today, so I am going to take this opportunity to shower her with public praise.
She means more to me than any woman ever has. She is truthful with me, and I allow it, even when it hurts. This might not seem remarkable, but trust me – it is. There is nothing I cannot tell her; she will continue to love me even when she knows I’m behaving wretchedly. I know. I have tested it.
We share the same temperament, the same fears and ambitions, and we hate all the same people, although perhaps that should remain between us. We have watched each other grow from very young new moms into women with dreams separate from our children. With the ability to sometimes see ourselves, or at least each other, clearly, instead of through the lens of motherhood.
Friendship is not clouded with the same entanglements that romantic relationships are. In friendship we have the opportunity to be ourselves, unfettered by the mystery of someone of the opposite sex. For whatever anyone says, we are definitely different.
Everyone should have someone like her. If you are normally (as I am) a private person, prone to obfuscation and selective sharing, I encourage you to find one friend with whom you can truly be yourself. You never know. The life she saves may be your own.
Aw Gee. I love you too.