Friendship

Aren't you grateful us humans don't have to greet each other this way? Anyway....these two are buds, pals, friends. They always have fun together, even when Miss Jessie purposely kicks Juneau's one front leg out from under him and then wraps her mouth around his neck.

Last Fall I was reunited with an old, OLD friend - someone I had not talked to in over 20 years. We were penpals at first (her in NC, me in CA) and eventually we each traveled to each other's homes and saw the sites, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Our lives took very different paths. She is the single career woman. I am the married WAHM. She is demure. Me? Not so much. She remembers things about me I had long forgotten, and it's probably better that way.

We talked on the phone today, and as usual, we had a great time. I am so blessed to have a close group of girlfriends who find the same things funny, who put up with all the trips my twisted little mind takes. Alas they are "close" only in spirit. Dora is still in NC, Kathryn is in GA, Sam is in CA, and soon Kay will be moving out of state.

I think the Lord orchestrated Dora's call today. These little near death experiences we have in life can be rather daunting. It's difficult to find a person who can relate to having a full size car travel about 70 feet through the air, after being hit by another car going 60 mph, all the while rolling, and finally landing on its side about a foot away from one's windshield. You tend to remember those kind of things, and they tend to mess with your mind.

Dora was the victim of a horrendous violent crime 12 years ago. Stabbed in her bed in the middle of the night, by a man high on drugs, looking for money. He took an eight inch knife from her kitchen and stabbed her 23 times in the upper body. Then he pulled her phone out of the wall and as he later told the police - he thought she was dead. It is impossible for me to wrap my mind around this kind of horror. To speak to someone who has survived this is a very humbling thing. It puts many things into perspective. The attack punctured one lung, but she survived because she had extra weight protecting her. The doctor told her "if you were skinny you'd be dead right now."

She no longer lives in the same place. The man who did this was released from prison last year. I ask: are you afraid he will try to find you? She answers: no, it's not going to happen again. 12 years later she has the flashbacks, the "what if he'd stabbed me two inches to the right?" conversations with herself. She told me she has become an expert at shutting those things down before they are able to take control. She reminded me we walk on faith, and we drive that way too.

Truly an amazing and inspirational woman. A blessing.