Whirlwind Weekend!!

I flew into SLC on Friday night.  Maddy and her husband picked me up, and we went to Erika's for a lovely dinner Alice had prepared - she'd had her carpets cleaned, so we needed to eat somewhere else - they weren't dry yet!!

 

It was great to meet Maddy's husband Kyle!!

 

And to see everyone again!!  Alice and Dale are just back, it was fun to meet Hannah's boyfriend James, and I haven't seen Erika and kids in awhile!!

 

The purpose of my trip was attending the funeral for Joy's mom, Tressa Jensen.  Joy and I have been friends since we were children, and I have always loved her mom.  Tressa was almost 99 years old and had lived a good life.  It is always hard to say goodbye, but she was ready to go and reunite with many loved ones. 

The funeral service was beautiful - talks and music that celebrated the life of a good woman.  Joy and I were college roommates and two other roomies - Pat and Marlene - also joined us.  

As Marlene said, "Looks like you are the frontline now Joy!"

Flew back Sunday a.m. - and now it's another week at school!!

Life does indeed go on!

Happy Day to my BFF!!

I am still here in Oregon, so I don't have access to my photos, but if you go here, you can see any number of old photos of my friend and former roommate Joy.

Today is Joy's birthday - and I want to wish her many happy returns. Hitting this milestone is a little traumatic, but not much. These things do happen incrementally after all!

While visiting here with Phoebe, I have thought often about how important friends are in our lives. We have mothers and sisters, who are vital to our well-being, but we need our friends!

I am impressed anew at how grateful I am for all the wonderful friends Phoebe has. It's hard to live far away from your daughter. But when I think about her great friends and how much they care for her, I am truly comforted and know that she is in excellent hands!!

I have noticed this with all of my daughters. (Not so much with sons - not sure why that is, since Harry and Noah do have some great friends too.) They all have friends from church and school with whom they are still and regularly in touch. And they make new friends wherever they go - and hang onto the old ones as they move on.

These women are there for them with the moves, the pregnancies, the new babies, the projects, the recipes, the school issues, Cub Scouts, Young Women, the daily stresses, and probably most significantly, the listening ears!

When I visit my girls, I see that their friends are indeed there for them. And I see that the growth goes both ways - as they receive from their friends, they are giving also - and learning and growing in ways that will impact their lives as the years start to fly by - and fly they will. Very soon they will be helping with sending kids off to college, off on missions, getting ready for weddings and even grandbabies!

I'm at the stage where my friends are becoming more valuable than I ever imagined they would be. My old friend from Grenoble days was here Wednesday for lunch - and we chatted as though we'd just seen each other yesterday. I had dinner last night with the the Burkes, and we seamlessly moved into conversation about our children - even though we don't really know one another's children. In June with went to Ashland with two of Harry' s old college roommates - and anyone listening to us would have thought we'd been living on the same street for the last 30 years! I will never forget going to my high school 20-year reunion - over 20 years ago - and running into a friend with whom I'd gone to school K through 12. We picked up where we'd left off - just like that.

That is the blessing that is friendship - and that is why I want to wish Joy the happiest of days and a wonderful year ahead!!