Welcome back to my heart....

For several years now, I have been searching for my good friend from high school.  The last time I saw her was over 25 years ago.  Last week, while searching on facebook, I ran across a young girl with my friend's daughter's name.  Her first name is very unusual, she also had my friend's last name, and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, was in the background. My friend's husband is french.

I left a message on her wall in facebook asking if her mom was my friend and introduced myself.  She wrote back and confirmed my friend was her mom!  I was SO EXCITED!  Finally, after all these years... so I gave her my email, and my phone numbers and waited...

My friend called me and told me she also lives in Nevada, about 25 minutes from where I live!!  Today we met and went to lunch.  It was like we stepped back into time and enjoyed the same connection we had back so many years ago.

I learned she lost her Dad and a very close friend by drunk drivers.  The bad back she had in high school, got worse after a fall while snow skiing. She had  to have an 8 hour back surgery, only to find out she had some kind of a birth defect, which had caused her back problems in high school. Now, 14 years later,  it has deteriorated to bone on titanium.

She has no insurance and cannot get disability, because she traveled with her husband who was a Rep. for  World Cup Skiing. After she had her daughter, she stayed home to raise her. She cannot stand up straight, can barely walk, and moves slowly with her cane walker.  The pain is so bad, she takes morphine daily...

Still she brightens any room she is in with her big smile, infectious laughter and her radiant personality.  Her uses her humor to deflect negativity, her attitude still sees the glass half full and refuses to feel sorry for herself. Despite our aged appearances, we laughed and talked non-stop like we did so many years ago...welcome back to my heart my dear friend....