Day 10 of being Thankful: A few years ago I was reading some self help articles about divorce. I think maybe it was a poem that compared people passing through your life as seasons. I can really relate to that analogy. I tend to think of friends I have had over the years as leaves on trees. I have some great Evergreen friends who are always there for me. You know... the ones you call to help you hide the body. First lets get all the Non Evergreens out of the way. Maples or Bradford Pears are plentiful. They are beautiful with great bursts of color and beautiful limbs but after the first little frost the leaves start to wither and fall to the ground. A good wind may split the trunk right in half. No need to mention the names of those that have turned on me. You cant keep dead leaves around too long because they will mildew and give root rot to an Evergreen you have been tending for years. I have raked them up, put them in their black glad bag and set them out for the garbage man to collect. I cant talk about Evergreens without mentioning my beautiful ornamental Pine, Sharon Thornhill Martin Nelson. She was my first grown up friend. She was beautiful inside and out, but you had to know if you didnt approach her at the right angle you may get a sharp needle in the eye. She was a combination of all these friends below.. I learned lots of things about myself with Sharon. She was a great listener and quick to call BS when someone was wrong. Losing her definitely affects the choices I make when I think I have a tough road to walk. I am very thankful we took a lovely trip to Europe. I have wonderful memories shared with only her. Miss you girl! My oldest and most steadfast friend has been in my life since 1st grade. She would have to be a Christmas tree. She loves to wear those little sparkly ornaments once or twice a year but she is just as pretty hanging out with limbs bare. In Jr. High School a teacher called us the Gold Dust Twins. He would separate us front and back of the class room because we could literally talk with our eyes. She left school early and got married, had kids, got a divorce, joined the military, came home, fell in love, and through it all we never lost our connection. When I quit work and started college, she showed up. Shaking her head so hard in class sometimes I could almost hear it rattle. She put her nose in the books and went on to finish nursing school. I dont think Belinda Gregory could possibly know how incredibly proud I am of her for taking that first step back to school with me by her side. The Gold Dust Twins have a little gray at the roots now but we can still talk with our eyes and if the opportunity presents itself we can still shake our limbs. Lets talk about the Evergreen with the most game. Judy Taber has got game. She has to be a Thuja Tree, adapts to different situations, resists pests and grows rapidly when needed. We can make a game out of almost anything. We can play cards for hours and hours, especially if I am winning. Scrabble was our Saturday morning pastime. Our conversations are so animated and fast, I can hardly let her finish talking when I think of something funny to say about what she said. She does the same to me. It is like climbing a cliff together, she takes a ledge and then I one up her, she jumps over me and I am ready to pounce before she gets her footing. In the end we are on level ground but we climbed together using each others momentum to get there. The closest I have ever been to being mad at her is when she moved away for a damned man!! LOL! I ended up loving him to pieces but I do wish they werent so far away. My most creative and unique Evergreen is Clara Nell Brown. There is only one tree for Clara Nell Brown to be and that is the sweet Magnolia Tree. Clara is southern, charming, talented, and CRAZY. You never know where she is going to lose her leaves and just when you think she wont make it she displays a beautiful bloom. Clara and I have only known each other the last 7 years or so. In a room full of people we were drawn to each other like magnets. Well I think she wanted one of my cigarettes but whatever it was we havent quit talking yet! I love her family and we connect. I am very proud of her for taking a big step recently. I know she has a great year ahead. My very best friend picked me up by my boot straps when I was very low. I had forgotten to love me. He taught me to love myself again. He uses a pretty unorthodox method of getting the point over, called the TRUTH. Other people skirted around the truth with me but he made me look it dead in the face. My life has been a great adventure with my baby bear. We stay on yachts, go to sword fights, drink with pirates, ride Harleys, but most of all we laugh. Now these are not all of my friends and I had a hard time choosing a few but I decided to go with the ones I would look for first in a Zombie Apocalypse. Note to Clara Nell: We dont have time for you to change clothes and shoes, I dont know what you should wear. Better get AV to lay out and ensemble for you!! I am truly thankful for these and all my friends!!
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:55:49 +0000