Kindred Spirits

I was just blessed with two days of cherished friendship.  My best friend from college came to visit.  Her husband had a business trip a few hours away and he and my husband jumped through some big traveling hoops to make it possible for Jan to spend the time at my house.

We talked and talked and talked. There was some looking back, way back, to our days together at the University of Virginia.  We remembered learning to write a unit study and not learning to manage a classroom.  We talked about the twaddle we sat through and we appreciated the teachers who really did inspire us.  She's now a teacher and an administrator a small classical school.  (Hey, me too ;-).  Funny how we both discovered Latin at the same time, far, far from the grounds of that school which supposedly embodies the Thomas Jefferson Education. We giggled with my children about a ridiculous four credit course entirely devoted to rubber cement and exacto knives.  We cleaned out my learning room and pored over books and started planning yet another unit. I showed her the world of lapbooks (and we laughed some more about proficiency in cutting and pasting). We traded ideas and solved each other's problems.

But it wasn't all "professional."  My husband marveled at how we could pick up right where we left off fifteen years ago, sharing stories and hearts and souls.  We had long talks that left me feeling full.  This time, though, there were new dimensions. We were able to look back with some perspective on mistakes made and lessons learned.  And we were able to look ahead with considerably more confidence than either of us had when we were 19.

Finally, there was the dimension the men in our lives brought to our friendship. Jan knew Mike when we were in college.  She oohed and ahhed over my engagement ring and helped me plan my wedding.  But I never knew her husband, except through letters and cards and phone calls.  On her final night at my house, he came to stay. He's perfect for her and I so enjoyed getting to know him.  The four of us stayed up talking way too late and I thought with a little pang how it just seemed like we'd all been great friends forever--and then how far away they really live.

Still, I sit here tonight amazed by God's provision.  After what has easily been the loneliest time of my life, He brought my husband and hers together to make it possible for us all to truly fill up on friendship.  Amazing.  Really.