I went to dinner tonight with my oldest friend in the world, Carol. We’ve been friends since I my sophomore year in high school.

Two things brought us together.  =)

First, in September, Pattonville sponsors a “Switch Dance,” where the girls ask the guys out and take them to dinner and all that. Welp, my group of friends never really got into it, so we all just went to dinner together, and then went to the dance. Carol happened to be driving that night - her light blue VW Rabbit. I got to sit shotgun, because I was the person she knew the most - and that wasn’t much. So, from then on, I was “Co-Pilot.”

Second, I was friends with Tiffiny, who was on the swim team with Carol. We all had Algebra II together. As I was the classic underachieving “gifted” child, and she was the classic hard worker, I never completed my homework… but she always let me copy her homework when she got it back, so I could turn something in - late. Her inscription in my yearbook that year has a “P.S. Do your algebra homework!”

We were also friends with another girl, Erin. The angst caused by that one girl alone was enough to drag us together for years afterward!

She went to SLU to pursue physical therapy, and I was a frequent visitor. I went to SMSU for business, and she’d visit when she could. I was her maid of honor, she was my matron of honor. She was at the hospital before work the day I gave birth to Justin, and paced the waiting room right along with the rest of my family as the delivery went on dangerously long.

And that’s where it all started falling apart.

Really, I’m not going to delve into the details, not on a fantastic night like this. Our lives were going in different directions, and then mine fell into pieces in 1998, and she wasn’t in a place to support me. (I don’t blame her, really. No one supported me then.)

Unbeknownst to me, her own marriage fell apart, and we were living parallel lives for a while. Every once in a while I’d attempt some sort of communication, which was met with no response.

In January I received a letter from her, that was dated May 2001. She wanted to get together. I was ecstatic. It was proof positive that miracles do happen. I’d been praying for that for a long time.

Tonight, I arrived at Farrato’s fifteen minutes early. I’ve no idea how I managed that. I stood pacing in the bar, because she was caught in traffic and running late. The hostess came up and touched my arm and they were peeling me off the ceiling. I was a little tightly wound, waiting for this moment that I’d prayed for for over four years.

When she walked in the door, it’s as if no time had gone by at all. I didn’t think it would be proper form to cry all over her, but I wanted to. What an amazing evening.

Four hours later, my stomach had cramps from laughing so hard. Life hadn’t been easy for either one of us, but we’re both better for it. Neither of us had had the emotional wherewithal to weather each other’s storms. But we were back now, and so very happy about it. A big hole that had remained empty was filled tonight.

Carol said we’d refer to the timeperiod from 1998 to 2002 as our “sabbatical.” I agreed. Not an ending, just a break.

That’s what true friends are for.

Still smiling,

michelle