Before I get started today, I must do a little celebration gig. I'm excited that Constant Contact finally has my font.  Silly, huh?  Celebrating the small stuff is not such a bad idea... I know that my friend, Kate, just smiled.  She's the one that first informed me that papyrus was indeed my signature font.  

I am thanking God for girlfriends on this fine Friday!  My most bestest nursing pal, Michelle, sent me this pic in an email last week.  

Michelle has been there through THICK and thin.  We are talking T.H.I.C.K. and oh-so-t.h.i.n.  I know that I would not have made it through nursing school or this last year as a "beginner" without her.  Shoot, I wouldn't be a beginner if she hadn't got me my job. I cannot count the number of ledges she has gently persuaded me down from this past couple of years.  Oh my.  When one of us didn't understand something, the other one explained.  When sticks and stones were thrown in close proximity, the other stood guard with a shield.  When one of us didn't possess the capacity to go any further, the other just picked up the slack and got the job done.  It didn't matter who got the credit.  We prayed each other through the the bumps in the road and we jumped from the rooftops in sync when success came our way.  We embody  "NEVER LEFT YOUR SIDE."

As I pondered this pic knowing I would use it for a contemplation, I thought about my dear friend, Ashley.  We've known each other since we were seven.  That's only 39 years ago.  I didn't just say that, did I?  Sorry, Ash.  We grew up in the same hood - if you could call Coral Reef Estates a "hood".  Oh, the stories I could tell or better yet, the stories Ashley could tell.  I won't tell you that one time when I was in elementary school, Ashley bit me and I made my mom call her mom to make her apologize.  She has never let me live that one down.  I can't help but reminisce as I write this - my granddad taking us to cheerleading practice in the back of his pick up truck, the day we got scolded for walking five feet behind her mom at the mall (who could blame us - she was wearing a moo moo and we were in Jr. High), boating weekends in the Florida Keys with her family, our "monumental" trip to Washington, DC with mine, the night she surprised me by showing up at a fraternity party in Plymouth, NH circa 1988 (she went school in Schenectady, NY), and then there was the day we "ran" into each other in an antique shop in Savannah, GA - we were both on vacation unbeknownst to each other - I was living in Tampa and she was living in DC.  Over the years, we have shared life together -  we have shared our families, our faith, the ups and the downs, we have shared our fair share of tears, we have lent each other hope, shared yummy meals and probably even a few beds, truth be told.  We have fought like sisters sometimes do. We have let each other down and we have carried each other over the molehills that felt like mountains. We've known each other at our best and our worst.  I am her champion.  She is mine.   We have never left each other's side. 

My heart is all warm inside just pondering the power of girlfriends.  What friend has come alongside of you and never left your side?  

So now you have the back story for this contemplation. I told you that Michelle had sent that email to me and it got me to thinking about those girls who have come alongside of me and specifically Ashley.  Last Wednesday night I was driving home from work and "You've got a friend" by Carole King came on the radio.  Guess who I think of when I hear that song?  You guessed it - Ashley.  I thought  that I should call her and tell her how grateful I am for our friendship and how much I love that we get to travel alongside of each other in this life.  My next thought was it's past 11pm in Annapolis.  I'll call her tomorrow.  But then that still small voice inside of me said, "NO - call her NOW!"  I agreed - Ashley is always up.  I called.  She answered.  I said, "Wow, you answered."  She's not usually a johnny on the spot answer on your first call kind of girl.  She replied, "I know, huh?  I saw your number and knew in my heart that God had sent you to call me."  Wow!  She shared that she had been struggling along.  She confessed that if I had called on any day prior she probably wouldn't have answered.  But on this day, a spark of hope had ignited and she welcomed my call.  I got to be that dose of encouragement she needed at just that moment in time to see her through a monumental decision she had just made that day.  

Can I say WOW, again?  Wow.  How cool is that?!  I could have

easily taken the road not called.  I know this because I do sometimes.  That's why I'm writing today.  I want to encourage you to listen to the still small voice when it whispers.  I want you to pick up the phone and call that girlfriend.  I want you to stop by her house on the way home.  I want you to give her a hug in the hallway of our cubicles.  Often times, lots of times, we get caught up in the minutia.  We neglect to take those sacred moments that can mean so much to our friend on the receiving end.  Just ask Ashley.  From my vantage point, my heart still overflows just thinking about it.  That's good stuff right there!

Basking in those moments,

Cindy

P.S. Happy Birthday to Lara and Ashley - my "Never Leave My Side" Girlfriends born on February 15th!