Here's to Friendship...

Amazing just how lovely it is to reconnect with an old and dear friend. It happened on Friday when Bonnie, aided and abetted by my son and daughter-in-law, surprised me as I prepared to lunch at one of my favorite Charlotte restaurants. Suddenly there she was, standing in front of my table saying, "May I join you for lunch?", her dear face wreathed in smiles- and then we were hugging and laughing, our words tumbling over one another in our eagerness to catch up with one another's lives. Wonderful hardly begins to describe it, the feeling of making contact yet again with this dear friend who has shared so much of my life, and I hers.

Our friendship dates back to our days in Florida in the early 1980s, when our families were part of a very special Lutheran church which became extended family for all of us. Since we both had teenagers, getting involved with youth ministry seemed a natural, cementing the bond which had begun to form form between us. When their family relocated to Charlotte, the loss was profound for me but, in one of life's lovely surprises, we moved there a year later and Bonnie and I reconnected easily as her family became my family once again.

Many years have passed. Our teenagers now have teens of their own. Time together happens far too rarely, but when it does, the re-connection is immediate and deep as two aging friends cherish the bonds which keep us held firmly in one another's heart. Bonnie, I love you.