Bacon & Eggs, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Milk & Cookies...

We met in the 4th grade at good ol' Ambler Avenue Elementary. Crazy Ms. Nicholson was our teacher. I call her crazy because she yelled and threw chairs across the room. Yes...all these years later, I still remember that.

I don't know who said hi to who first. Knowing me, it was me. And so began what has become a 36 year friendship.

We attended elementary, middle, and most of high school together until her family moved and she transferred to a different school. She still managed to get her mug in the BHS yearbook though.

Not sure exactly what happened after high school but somewhere along the way we lost touch. :-(

We reconnected at her baby shower a few years later and I'll always remember leaving at the end of the night, giving her a hug as she donned a cow costume. I'm gonna say that she was on her way to a party. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna say. ;-)

She had her baby (a beautiful baby girl), and I remember calling to wish her well. I spoke with her mom who told me that she was resting so I didn't get to speak with her. That was in 1991, and for whatever reason, it was the last connection that either of us had with each other for a very very long time. Not sure what the reason was for the lapse. I'm sure that she was busy with her baby and I was busy with mine, and mine, and mine. I guess that's kinda how life works sometimes.

Then, along came the internet and a website called Classmates.com. I registered. And...she found me! That was in 2005!!!

We made arrangements to meet at Koji's in Orange (thankfully, our friendship has outlasted that restaurant because IT is now CLOSED), and well folks...as they say, "the rest is history". We will NEVER lose contact with each other again...EVER!

She's a bit of a spitfire. Cross her the wrong way, and she'll hurt you. Cross ME the wrong way, and she'll hurt you.

She speaks her mind and will tell you like it is IN A HEARTBEAT. A trait that I admire because I myself, don't have it.

And she ALWAYS has my back!

She's my #1 supporter in everything I do. My biggest cheerleader. My #1 Fan.

Oh, but when I mess up (and there's been plenty of that), she comes at me with her standard line, "Oh D!", gives me her take on the situation, and then keeps on lovin' me.

She's as BEAUTIFUL on the INSIDE as she is on the OUT. And no, I'm not saying that to be cliché. You see her pic here, so yeah...like I said.

We've cried together, laughed together, cried together, and laughed some more.

Interestingly, she inspired today's post and doesn't even realize it. You see, today's post came out of the book that she bought me last year for my birthday, called "642 Things To Write About". I was flipping through the pages today and there was the prompt, "Describe Your Best Friend", so...I did.

Yes folks, I have just described for you all my very BEST friend Judy! An absolute BLESSING, and the truest definition of friend...BEST friend! If she were a dude, I think we'd be married. {insert an "Oh D!!!" here}

My prayer is that we have many many more years together, 'cause there's a whole lotta stuff we still need to do.

Now it's YOUR turn...Let the DIALOGUE begin: PLEASE, describe YOUR best friend.

Talk to me!

Til next time...