Friends would have said, "NO that's NOT Normal!"

I've been trying to write something about friendship for the last few days. The funny thing is I keep getting interrupted by texts, phone calls or visits from my caring friends. Which has been such a blessing! I have been going through a very personal rough time and my close friends have been there every step of the way for me. Sometimes not even knowing all the details, just knowing I needed a friend.

It hasn't always been like that though. I've always considered myself a loyal friend, I still keep in touch with many friends from my childhood, youth, & college years. However, there was about a 10 year period in my life that all I thought I needed or should have was Greg, Josh, Jer and Julia. We lived in a small town and I had left my other friends behind & found it difficult to make

new strong friendships. I found "surface" friends but no deep lasting lifetime type friends. So, I focused ALL my attention on just my kids and husband. Which in itself is not a bad thing but in the process Teresa the friend got lost. Thankfully, God has placed some amazing women back in my life, that over time I have bonded deeply with and slowly the friend in me has been found again. My friends are truly inspiring, entertaining, talented, loving and devoted people. These are the gals that actually get my humor, they laugh at my jokes, they encourage me, they build me up. The tease me about my quirks, yet except them as just a part of me. These are the girls that I would do just about anything for and I know they would for me also. They would drop everything to help in a crisis and they have. Some I talk to every single day, some I may not for awhile but I know that they are there.

Maybe someday when we are old ladies we'll start an old lady club together but one that isn't as tacky as that red hat/purple dress club! I hope my friends know what they mean to me. I hope they understand that I truly do value each one as an individual. They are all different in the personality department.

This is one reason I love them all...how boring if all of them acted just like I did or just like each other. They bring so much joy, wisdom & laughter to my life!. I survived those years that I didn't have any good close girlfriends but I think they could have been easier if I had had a friend to ask the difficult questions too. "My nipples are STILL bleeding & I'm in unbearable pain after 3 months of nursing! Is that normal?" That's probably TMI but those are just exactly the questions a good girlfriend will answer without hesitation! I look so forward to growing closer to each of my good friends and I also believe that God has probably more wonderful friends to add to my life when the time is right. I think this quote sums up just exactly what I am trying to say.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C. S. Lewis

Oh...and by the way, turns out, NO! That is NOT normal after three monthes of breast feeding!