Monday, August 17

Soul Mates

I was never a rabid Sex and the City fan, but I do recall one episode when Carrie wonders . . . is it the girlfriends in our lives who are our soulmates?

I've had some great boyfriends, and not so great ones. I've had those crazy, insane loves . . . and a gut-wrenching divorce. Ups and downs and ins and outs . . . the men in my life have been an assortment of different types.

But my best girlfriend . . . she's been there forever, it seems.

She is the one who can finish my sentences. She's the one who somehow manages to find the perfect gift for me--the thoughtful one no one else will have come up with (such as an anniversary edition of The Little Prince, my favorite book).

She's the one I called when I woke up the night before my daughter's seventh birthday party in agonizing pain from Crohn's disease . . . and the one I swore to secrecy because I didn't want my daughter to remember her seventh birthday as the one Mommy had to cancel . . . and my best friend was the one who came and THREW the party for 12 little girls and painted their nails and did crafts with them because I couldn't get out of bed. And then she was the one who made sure I went to the hospital when it was all over.

She's the one who makes me laugh and the one who gets to listen to me cry on those very rare occasions. She's the one I send pictures of my latest celebrity crush to.

She's my soul mate. She gets me like no one else. It doesn't necessarily make sense. I have four kids, she has none and has never married. She has had blue hair, red hair, platinum hair, pink hair, fuscia . . . I held her hand when she pierced her nose last year. Our lives are very different. I'm not sure what she sees in me--I guess I'd have to ask her. I've taught her how to play poker and I know I make her laugh. And my parents say she is their 4th daughter.

Somehow . . . it works, this friendship.

But then . . . that's the point of soul mates anyway. You don't get to pick them. The Universe does it for you.

So . . . who's your best friend? And what makes that friendship so special?

12 comments:

lkmadigan said...

This is a beautiful entry - thanks for posting it.

L.K.

JESSJORDAN said...

Okay, so now I'm going to go cry. :) Friendship is beautiful, isn't it?

My sister is my soulmate. I love her to pieces, and she just gets me, like no one else does.

I LOVED Sex and the City for that very reason: it was never really about the boys. What it all came back to, every single time, was the relationship between those four women. And that's what made the show so special.

Erica Orloff said...

Thanks, L.K.
E

Erica Orloff said...

jess:
I totally hear you! My best friend sustains me. Cliche, but she is the wind beneath my wings.
E

Realm Lovejoy said...

Very touching!

Alyson Noel said...

Wow, Erica- what a beautiful post! I have two best friends, my husband, who I recognized as a soul mate from the moment I met him, and a girl I went to school with from junior high on, but didn't really know until much, much later, and who is responsible for me meeting my husband! I feel so lucky to know both of them!

Erica Orloff said...

Hi Realm:
Thanks. I am lucky my friend has my back as they say.
E

Erica Orloff said...

Alyson:
:-) Soul mates are great!
E

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

my friend nancy - she gets me. I can say anything and she never judges me. It is safe and unconditional love :) thanks for this post.

Erica Orloff said...

Hi Shelli:
Definitely on that unconditional love. Though she will not hesitate to tell me when I am wearing something ridiculous. ;-)
E

Melissa Walker said...

i have a few friends who get me, who'd drop everything to come over if i needed them. how lucky we are.

Gerb said...

Beautiful post. I have some dear friends who live very far away who I would consider my soul mates because we 'get' each other. They are the first people I would go to with both bad news and good. They are always there for me with an encouraging word. I consider them my sisters as much as my friends. And I feel incredibly blessed to have people like them in my life.