Friends for Life

            There we stood Saturday afternoon, laughing and hugging each other in the street behind her parked car at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It was going to be a very, very good day.

            Jody and I met just over thirty years ago at her wedding when I was already waddling like a duck even though the birth of my daughter was still two months away.  Our friendship has survived close distance (we once lived in the same townhouse complex), long distance, and diverse distance:  we have rarely been in the same circumstances at the same time in current life experience, but the core of our friendship has remained sturdy through the years.

            Of course, we talked.  And talked.  And talked, in a variety of settings:  lunching on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (my request) in her car; strolling through the Carnegie Museum of Art; hanging out at the Coffee Buddha where her daughter, Bethany, works; eating at an Indian foods buffet; standing at her kitchen counter and sitting in the living room of her house; and driving all the points between in her car.   And, no, you do not get to hear the content of our conversation:  that is confidential.  Besides, it would take a book-length manuscript to record our almost-24-hours together after our approximately-15-years apart.

            But I will say this:  what really strikes me about Jody is her compassion.  I heard  compassion in her voice, not only in her tone but also in the catch of breath when she feels another’s pain.  She loves deeply and lives her life sincerely.  Our friendship is built on respect and trust and the most important ingredient of all:  unconditional love.