Good Friends

Three summers ago, the first time I started teaching in Belton, I was sent to a Houston workshop at the last minute.  I was the only one from my school, and I only knew two people from the whole Belton group, and that was the older couple that I rode with.  I always feel very anxious in these situations...who will I eat with?  Who will I talk to?  Will I be stuck by myself the whole time?  Who will I share a room with?  Will they be up all night?  Ignore me?  Snore???

On this trip, I got so lucky, and I didn't even realize it at the time.  My roommate for that weekend was Emily.  She answered my main questions pretty quickly...she ate with me, we chatted, she didn't stay up all night, and she didn't snore!  Score!  =)

We realized pretty quickly that we had a lot in common.  We talked a lot about teaching and students and kids of our own.  She had one little boy, Zeke, at the time and we talked a lot about our desires for future children.

After that trip, we kept in touch off and on, sporadically for the next couple of years.  Then, thanks to the joy of Facebook, we had an easy, accessible way to keep up with each other a little better.  Emily had another baby, Anna Kate, and when I had Mason, we all of a sudden had even more in common!  She was very generous with some of her baby stuff that we couldn't afford, and we are still using some of those things now!

Today we took the kids to the splash pad, and it was so nice to have time to catch up.  We have SO much in common and joke that we are "kindred spirits."  We have the same kinds of struggles - picky eaters, being a full time working mom, and we are passionate about the same things (healthy eating and rear facing carseats to name a couple).  We both long for five minutes to just sit and "have a cup of coffee" but we both wish deeply that we could stay at home with our children.  We both worry too much about what others think but in the same breath know we shouldn't care.

It's so nice to just be able to share all of this with someone who is also right in the middle of it, and understands where I'm coming from, and even more doesn't judge me for the things I do and the decisions I make.  Thanks Emily, for being such a good friend.  I'm so thankful that I was randomly chosen to attend that workshop three years ago, and I'm even more thankful that I've got such a good friend in you!