The Power of Friendship...

I don’t have many friends. As a matter of fact, I probably have one good friend that I can say with the utmost confidence has been with me through thick and thin, for the last 8 years or so. Other than my family, who kind of have to like me or at the very least, they are stuck with me, I can count on Alisha. Alisha is 21 years my junior, and I used to think, why would she be hanging out with me?? I’m an old lady…well, not super old, but hey, I have a few years on her for sure! That’s not to say I haven’t had friends throughout the years, its just that to have friends, you have to be a friend. I’m a really crappy friend. It has to be a two way street. One calls the other, just to chat, then the other person calls the next time. It isn’t one-sided, but it isn’t consuming either. When you go to lunch or breakfast, one pays one time, then the next time the other person pays…it’s a two way street. When one person is doing the calling, and one person pays all the time (not necessarily the same person), resentment can grow, and the relationship usually changes or fizzles out. That hasn’t happened to Alisha and I. We’ve never even had an argument or disagreement! We lead very separate lives; our work is vastly different; I am married, she is not; I have grown children and grandkids; she has never been married and has no children. There are times when we don’t speak for weeks at a time, maybe even 2 months go by and we haven’t talked…however, at least once a week, I’ll text her or she’ll text me…just to say hi, I’m thinking of you. We don’t try to control each others’ time, she doesn’t get mad or hurt because I can’t go for a walk this weekend; I don’t feel slighted when she hangs out with other friends…I respect her time, energy, to focus on her needs, as she does mine. That is true friendship! We’ll have breakfast sometime in the next couple of weeks when I’m on break and it will be as if no time has elapsed...we’ll just pick up where we left off. I haven’t seen her since September…and I’m sure I’ll be giving her a massage!

As with most girly things…our conversations can go from fashion to spirituality to relationships, the weather…second hand store shopping…and everything in between. We’ve often wondered if someone were to listen to snippets of our conversation, what they would think. This brings to mind a memory…we were walking in Sabino Canyon…it was very early, the sun wasn’t even up yet, and we were talking about…sex, of course! Anyway, we were so engrossed in our conversation that we didn’t notice a guy walking a few feet behind us. I am sure he could hear our discussion, and he could have passed us many times as we weren’t walking that fast, but I think he was rather enjoying eavesdropping on our titillating tête-à-tête! We sped up to the point that my calves (gastrocnemius and soleus muscles are actually the correct terms) were cramping…we just wanted to get away. We passed him on our return hike, and he smiled at Alisha! This has happened to us as we’ve sat in our favorite Starbucks on many other occasions. We surely have lots to say!

Finished my APP and MAK classes last night (Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology, Muscles and Kinesiology), with a 94% & 93% respectively. I was shocked to have received these grades. Believe me, if you knew how much I’ve struggled this quarter…you’d be surprised too!! I have two more sessions in each of my last two classes left, then we’re off for about 3 weeks!! I plan to do massage, and study. My house will just have to wait until spring for a thorough cleaning or maybe until school ends!

What else…what else…

Oh, Glen’s family will be making Polish sausage this weekend. This is equivalent to our tamale making which is the following Sunday. Both endeavors are equally time consuming, physically challenging (lots of standing and hunching over), but well worth the work when bonding with family, telling old stories, jokes, drinking coffee all day long…then we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor…mmmm, sausage…mmmm, tamales!! I don’t think I’ll do too much baking this year…just no time! Last year, I tried some new recipes and sent the goodies to Glen’s work for the guys in the shop. Whether the cookies and bars were good or not, they ate ‘em up! We just don’t eat very many sweets, and I am really watching my food intake, not just how much I’m eating, but what I am eating as well.

Hope your Thursday has been a great one! Talk soon…