Friendly Walk

Every so often you "meet" people by some strange coincidence and you click right away. I consider myself really lucky when it comes to finding the most awesome group of friends in the world. I often wonder what on earth I did to deserve such wonderful friends. It's the positive version of the question "Why me?" Heck, I can't find a thing about me that could possibly attract any friends. I'm one of those people mentioned on other blogs under the category of 'qualities I cannot stand in the opposite gender' - "constantly complaining, high maintenance" - well, you get the picture. Yet somehow the most wonderful people on earth become my friends.

For the next twelve days I will dedicate this blog to my friends. No, it's not because I only have a dozen friends. In fact, this post starts out with two of them.

I met V.R. five years ago. Would have met her a day sooner, had she not been allergic to bees. Her first impression on me was not too great. She was a new employee and was scheduled to come in early morning. I was supposed to train her on her first day at the jobsite. Instead I got a phone call from V.R. - "Hi, I was supposed to come in this morning, but I got stung by a bee yesterday and I'm allergic to bees, and my foot is so swollen I cannot put my shoe on this morning." Yes, V.R. is a blonde. But don't let this first impression fool any of you. She's most likely the smartest blonde you'd ever meet. Actually, I think she's a fake blonde and colours her hair to match her lively personality. Within a few months we became inseparable in the office, and our co-workers and managers nicknamed us "here comes trouble" and "here comes trouble 2." Before the year ended we were best friends and introduced our husbands to this friendship. Needless to say, our husbands also got along great. Yeah, Guinness does that to men.

The past five years we had celebrated every New Year's Eve together, celebrated Jewish holidays (and they're not even Jewish!), gone out for dinners and shows, and participated in charitable events together. If we didn't live an hour apart we probably would have just moved in together and spend our time investigating how to fake our status to the adoption agency, and just circumvent the husband issue altogether. We considered posing as Lesbians who want to adopt two kids, so then we each end up with a kid. Who needs husbands anyway?! Yes, we're crazy that way.

Then there's J. whom I've known for five years as well, but have never met her. Yes, she's one of my online friends. Recently, through some very odd circumstances we became good friends. I'd like to think very good friends. But short of imposing myself on someone, I can only claim what I feel, and cannot vouch if the feeling is mutual. But dammit, I'll shoot her with a water gun if she rejects this friendship announcement!

What is so special about V.R. and J.? They make me laugh! There is no way I can hold a conversation with them without laughing my heart out. But it's not just the laughter that I cherish dearly. It's their friendship and knowing that I can trust them and tell them everything about my personal life, and they genuinely care about me. I've learned from them how to care about other people. Their selfless acts inspire me. When I grow up, I want to be like V.R. and J. - always positive, always happy, always cheerful, always with a smile on their face, always supportive, always caring about others.

So this is a post to thank V.R. for introducing me to the world of charitable activities, and walks for the cure. And for spending numerous weekends of her life helping others. I'm so proud of you, V.R. Your selfless acts constantly amaze me. I'm proud to call you my friend, dork! You did an awesome job today as Team Captain.

And this post is to thank J. for hours of laughter and your constant encouragement and support through my difficult times. Don't know what the heck I'd do without you, my friend. Your sister is damn lucky to have you in her life. I will continue to keep her in my thoughts, because we definitely need more of you guys in our global gene pool and you two deserve only good in life.

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