When a friend is more than a friend

J and I have been thru a lot in the 11 odd years I've shared her home.

There were the bad times:

• The death of her mom and my beloved stepmom
• The death of her sister 
• The death of my best friend of 53 years
• The death of Munchkin, the cat
• Three breast cancers
• Misc. eye surgeries, broken bones and sprained ankles
• Emergency trips to the hospital

We've also been thru wonderful times

• Celebrations for little things
• Celebrations for middle things
• Celebrations for big things
• Our adventures to places like Insel Poel and Malta and many more places
• Staying in everything from a no-star hotel to a château
• The mountains
• Hen night
• DVDs
• Movies
• Concerts for all types of music
• Holidays
• Proving two women could share a kitchen
• Discovering buying a cooked Thanksgiving turkey was easier than doing your own and going to Marro for the meal was the best of all
• Early morning conversations
• Mid day conversations
• Late night conversations
• Food
• Sinning at McDos
• Running to France for Chinese food as a last minute decision
• Jumping on a train for an adventure with no thought of a destination
• Photos of electric boxes (with more planned)
• The good memories list is endless

She never wanted daughters, I never wanted sons, but we ended up with what we each wanted yet we forged a relationship with the other's offsprings.

Sharing friends. Can you have too many wonderful people in your life? I don't think so.

There is a problem with terminology. Eskimos have many words for snow. English only one. English only has one word for friend that fails to define depth. I could list a lot for J...including fellow survivor, family of choice, sister of choice, partner in silliness-laughter-sadness... just keep adding words.

So this is for you J. Thank you for being who you are and walking thru life.