I can't remember when I first met her. I've known her so long, in fact, that I actually had to ask her how long I've known her.
Isn't that embarrassing?
Entering the Wayback Machine, I started this blog about 16 years ago, on a different platform. I was not a very good writer - it's not braggadocio to say that I am a better writer now than I was then, because I was truly not a good writer then. I hadn't yet captured the cadence of a decent blog post, and many of my posts consisted of, "Today I did this, and then I did this, and then I did this."
Yawwwwn. Snooze.
I don't know how I came across it, but one of the (many) blogs I followed back then was running a contest and first prize was a years' worth of blog hosting, as well as (I believe) some writing lessons, or critique, or something similar. I really wanted that. I didn't win, but I came in second.
She came in third, and I immediately started reading her blog - I was hooked on her style and wit. I felt as if she was the (tiny bit) older sister I'd never had. We didn't have much in common - she had one kid, I had six, she was a flaming liberal, at the time I was pretty conservative (hahaha, how times have changed), she was very into hair and makeup and shoes and clothes and I really didn't have time for those things. I was barely managing to hold myself together most days.
On the surface, we could not be more dissimilar.
The more I read her blog, though, the more I got to know her - the more connected I felt to her, and the more she read my blog, the more we commented on each other's blogs, the funniest thing happened - we became really good friends.
I remember the first time I met her in real life, it was at a conference, and we RAN towards each other, just like in the movies, arms outstretched, and I know I plowed into her and probably knocked the breath out of her, but I think we spent the entire weekend laughing.
When I decided to drive to visit my father in Texas, I was worried about such a long drive with five of my kids and thought it would be best to break it up into several days. I stopped along the way to visit with friends, and one of the places I stopped was her house. She pulled out all of the stops - took my kids to see the Peabody Ducks, we toured St. Louis, had a wonderful pizza dinner, her husband took an amazing amount of time to talk ships with my youngest son, and she even baked with my girls. It was a great visit, and it really cemented our friendship.
We've stayed in touch all these years, some times closer than others, but I always know that I can text or call or email and she's right there. She helped me a lot through my super rough patch, and I don't know if I would have made it without her wisdom. I'm so excited that she's coming to visit me for a week in July. I seriously cannot wait to spend some time with one of my very best girlfriends. I firmly believe that every woman needs girlfriend time, and we are planning to hang out at the beach and talk and talk and talk some more.
Oh, I should probably tell you, It's Kalisa.
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