What is a BFF

This one's for you Dorothy

The kids have an expression bff which I believe means "best friend forever". Forever is a long time and even longer to someone who is just at the beginning of their life journey. True friends are rare in this life and I have been blessed with many. Can one have more than one bff or do you risk offending many by choosing one?

We have started off our current adventure by visiting friends whom we have known since the beginning of our life journey. People who were there at the beginning, are still a part of our lives, and probably will be to the end of our days.

I'll never forget the day I met Grace. My parents had just dropped me at the dorm, Wardall Hall on the Champaign campus of the U of I, and headed for home. I was sitting on the edge of my bed contemplating how to begin my college career when a rather diminutive mom walked in and said to me, "this is my daughter Grace and she doesn't have any friends. Will you be her friend?" Friendless as I felt at the moment how could I refuse.

I don't know to this day why Grace loves me  but I do know why I love her and have tried to hold her close to this day. First I fell in love with her quirkiness and quick wit. Even when telling the most tragic story she can find a bit of humor in any situation. As I got to know her better it was her heart that held me close. A goodness that is hard to find anywhere else. It is as simple as that. One person in your life who accepts what you are warts and all and embraces it.  The one person you can trust with your most private thoughts with the confidence that you will never be judged.

As Grace put it recently, we shouldn't even be friends. We were constant companions during our first year of  college after which I had to transfer to another school. We talked on the phone infrequently over the next three years. She was in my wedding and godmother to my youngest son. As our families grew and we became busy mothers we saw each other less frequently until she moved to St. Louis and we went years during which our contact consisted solely of birthday and Christmas letters. Now our children are grown and although we still talk to each other infrequently and visit less frequently, each encounter just seems to continue where we left off as though no time has passed at all.

Hardly a day has gone by over the 45 years we have known each other that I do not have a thought of her and no matter how long it has been since our last contact, I know that if I ever need her she will be there  for me in a flash. That's why we took a selfie this week and posted it on facebook with the simple caption "bffs"

While visiting Grace, we stayed around the corner from the historic district of St. Charles, Mo. A quaint town with great food and the usual assortment of chotsky shops.

Dinner at Mother-In-Laws House

St. Charlles historic center.

Dining al fresco in October