I Love Donna

Some friends are friends forever, no matter if you live next door or states away. When you see them you just pick up where you left off as if you just saw each other yesterday when it has actually been much longer than that.

That is how I feel about Donna.

Lets go back, back, baaaaaaaaaack

16 years ago to be exact and I can’t believe that I just wrote that. It can’t be 16 years. It just can’t I tell you……..

Ummmm, well, I think I digress.

HHBL and I knew that the school that Cartoon Girl and TMO were attending just wasn’t the right one for them for various reasons. What to do, what to do. And then someone told us about another Christian school in our area and that they were having an Open House that very next Saturday. So I called and asked if we could come. We walked into the school, were directed to the gym and sat down at a table across from another couple who we quickly found were parents with girls already attending the school and that one of those girls was the same age as the future Cartoon Girl. And then this woman started to talk……and talk and her husband didn’t say much (make that anything). And you just couldn’t help but love her because she just bubbled. You know that kind of person.

And that was Donna.

And I have loved her ever since that very first Saturday.

We have walked through a lot together have Donna and I.

We worked together in the school kitchen….we were “The Kitchen Ladies” (wow now there’s a brilliant name) and for a number of years it felt like we had our own little world going on behind the counter. I loved that job. I loved going into work in the morning and seeing the kids and making food….loved it. That girl could make me laugh so hard that a change of undies was in order. TMI?

We both had daughters and have managed to survive the teenage years without going to prison.

We have walked interesting paths in these last 16 years. The women that we are now are not the women that we were when we sat down across from each other that is for sure. We have both found that we can be strong. We can be ourselves. We can like ourselves and if you don’t like that then it is OK with us. But it has been a bumpy ride sometimes. Donna’s first husband Wayne, he of the little speech, went home to be with the Lord about 10 years ago after a hard fought battle with cancer. She is remarried and now lives in another state. But we stalk each other on Facebook and send each other little notes over the internet and love each other from afar.

And then about 3 weeks ago Donna said, “Hey! I want to have coffee. When can we meet?”

And I replied, “You want to drive all the way over here to have coffee?” (she lives one state over)

And she replied, “YES!”

And so that is what we did this morning. We met. We hugged and squealed and wondered why we hadn’t done this before. We had coffee and Cinnamon Buns. And we talked and talked and talked.

And it was wonderful.

What is really sick is that she hasn’t changed one bit in all these years. But I seem to be growing enormous eyebrows.

And I decided to bring my double chin with me today.

Oh well.

Love you Donna!!!