Friendship

We go back a "provable" 20 years... she says this because she has a picture of me at her 8th birthday party.

I've never been any good at keeping in touch, because I always find reasons why people probably don't care whether they hear from me or not.

But without fail, if ever I do call or email, my friend Lauren is right on top of it. I don't have to wait for a response, or question whether she's happy to hear from me.

This time, I need her more than ever. And she is there. Not just there, but Present. She went through what I am going through about a year ago (finally beginning to deal with family issues, and feeling what we never were safe to feel as children). She had this (among other things) to offer me:

"You're going to get very angry. More than you have ever been before. And it will be scary, because you'll feel like it's never going to end. Then you'll get very, very sad. And you will feel like there is no end to the sadness. And it might take a long time, infuriatingly long. You have to walk through the **** to get to the good stuff. But you will come out the other side. And you can call me whenever you need to."

I am so grateful for whatever angel placed her in my life.