laundry and friendship

I feel like I do laundry 24 hours a day. I wake up, start my coffee and start my laundry.  Load #1 done before breakfast and moved to dryer.  Load #4 goes in right before bed so delicates can lay flat to dry overnight and I don’t have to look at them all day hanging around in doorways and on furniture.

And I can’t tell you the number of random things I pull out of the washing machine.  Looking back I should have made a list, but let’s just say I check pockets now for the forgotten treasures.  This week I’ve found sand, 2 snail shells (hope they went in empty), 2 nails, lip gloss, 2 peppermints, a sonic gift card, bobby pins, and a shoe…

But I also found a real treasure.

 

I have this friend.   We’ve been friends for 20 years.   I’ve known her longer than I’ve not and that’s what’s amazing.  She knows so much about me, so much ugly beautiful.  We’ve argued, we’ve cried, we’ve hurt each other’s feelings, we’ve forgiven and forgotten.  We’ve laughed until we wet our pants, we’ve skipped school to roller blade and been stranded in bikinis.  We’ve been there for babies and for loss, we’ve complained and encouraged.   And we’ve prayed more prayers for each other than we can count.

And today I was struck by this treasure.  She prays for my children, kids she rarely sees and hardly talks to, but she’s watching them grow up from the other side of the world because I pour my life out to her on a regular basis.  She walked through potty training and tooth fairy forgetfulness, and she knows my ultimate fails, when I lose my mind and my temper and mean mommy shows up.  I love this friend.  I wish we were neighbors who could sit on front porches and drink coffee and tea and have enough time together that we could sit in silence.

But I’m stuck in Oklahoma and she’s in Scotland.

So she writes letters and remembers birthdays and her Christmas presents always arrive early.

And my kids love Aunt Rachael.

Just like I do.