Known

“Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.”
-Joseph Parry

With Benj out in California for the weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to visit my sister (Birmingham) and a college girlfriend (Atlanta). As I sat in DFW, silently rejoicing over my lot (no work for me!) I called my friend Mel and said, “Hey there! Have a GREAT staff meeting without me!” and after cursing my name for awhile she finally said, “Isn’t it great to be alone and anonymous?” She understood the joy I was experiencing of just being. Alone. No one to supervise, listen to, comfort, respond to, answer, report to. Selfish? Possibly. Heavenly? Definitely.

I flew to Birmingham and rented a car, (with a free upgrade, no less, just for being cute. Granted, it was an old-man PT Cruiser, but still) drove to the outskirts of Atlanta and met up with my friend Alissa, a suitemate at Pepperdine and life-long friend. I met 18 month old Brennan – a spitting image of Alissa and I freaked for a moment.

Me: “He’s like an alien!”
She: Who?!
Me: “Your son! He’s like…this weird creature that looks just like you…but isn’t you!!”

I will never get over that my friends have kids that look like them – it still creeps me out. Thankfully, Brennan is a lovey and funny little boy and we made fast friends.

Alissa and I had dinner out, just the two of us, and as we exchanged stories and got caught up I found myself telling her a story about a conversation that Benji and I had recently that wouldn’t exactly win me any points for “wife of the year” but definitely shows my husband’s pure-gold heart. She teared up.

She said, “He really knows you.”
And I said, “Thankfully, yes.”

Then she said, “You know, that story isn’t that surprising to me. Ever since I’ve known you you’ve had that…independent streak. That little part of your personality that hates to be confined or limited, so I’m not surprised that marriage in and of itself doesn’t rub you the wrong way sometimes.”

So we talked about that for a little bit, and as we drove home from dinner I felt a little relieved and thankful that Alissa had reminded me that some of the things I struggle with (read: rebellion against any that constrains) are old friends of mine, still testing me year after year. And it doesn’t make it good or bad, right or wrong, it just IS. And it is especially nice when the people who love you just understand the IS part. So I am thankful.