G"old" friends

Any of you who were Brownies or Girl Scouts should remember the song:

Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver, and the other's gold.

I'm not really sure why this is really one of the only things that stuck with me from my short service as a Brownie, but it resonates in my head every once in a while.

I have two Gold friends that have made such an impact in my life, I had to blog about it.

First, there's Tressa. From those first days in the first grade with our unintentionally matching hot pink dresses covered in brightly colored geometric shapes and our deep conversations about Bon Jovi and how we were both such big fans, to today with our children and our less glamorous, yet more fulfilling lives, we were meant to be friends. God made this obvious by putting us in eachother's paths repeatedly. We first met in Central Arlington where we went to Key Elementary together, Tressa and her family moved away a few years later. Another few years later, my family moved to a neighborhood in South Arlington where it just so happened my old buddy Tressa had moved to a few years earlier. We were inseperable after that.

Similar story with Annie. In the 9th grade I moved to San Antonio to live with my Dad for a while. There was this girl I kept seeing in choir, PE, and at another anonymous event outside of school. We finally started talking and I invited her to stay the night at my house so we could ride together to sing with our choir on the Riverwalk for Christmas! My 1.5 years in S.A. were pretty much spent with Annie, we too were inseperable after that. When I moved back home, I went back and visited a few times but sort of figured we'd drift apart and eventually lose touch. Not so! To my happy surprise, Annie moved to the metroplex to go to college and now I have her here near me!

As we've all grown, we haven't always been in the same stages of life as eachother and our correspondence has sometimes lacked. This just happens.

In the past few years, our lives have all become similar again and I feel as close to them as ever-even though we hardly see eachother. We don't have to. It doesn't matter how long its been, its always so comfortable like no time has passed at all. These girls are my sure things-as cliche as it sounds, they really are family to me. To make it even better, they like eachother a lot too, which I love.

What I really wanted to relay in writing this blog is what amazing women they've both become...and I've been lucky enough to witness this (not that they weren't equally wonderful young women). Since having a child, I often find myself asking "What would Tressa/Annie do?" Maybe I should have WWT/AD? bracelets made for myself. :) They are both such strong, spiritual, creative, caring, loving, intelligent, and capable women. I often find myself in awe of them and all that they are able to accomplish and have accomplished with such peace and grace. Seriously, I'm blessed to have shared the majority of my life with two such beautiful people.

I love you guys!!!!