“E” is for “Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy”

Dear Debbie,

I am glad you are taking next week off because you (and your family!) deserve it, though I’ll miss your daily blogs in my inbox.  Always makes me happy to see your name there and that’s not just because you are my oldest (ahem, longest!) and dearest friend.

I am so proud of you and all you have accomplished in the last year plus, to say nothing of the journey you have made over the last few years.  We’ve seen each other through so many things, pain and hardship, love and happiness, fun and silliness… but I think what makes our friendship so strong is that we always strive to understand ourselves and the people around us a little more; we can take (almost) unflinching looks at ourselves and our own weaknesses (and even strengths once in a while, though we are so much better at finding our own faults, aren’t we??), and we love our friends and families so  much.

Although it’s been many years, I always remember a line from one of the Anne of Green Gables books, Marilla of Inglesides, which tells of World War 1 through a (fictional) Canadian family’s experiences. Marilla starts as the youngest of several children, vain and silly, and comes out after many difficult experiences mature and empathetic. Scarred as well, of course. But the line that always stays with me is when she says something along the lines of, “I want this war to be over; I never want to live through another one… but I am grateful for how the experience of living through it has changed me – I would never go back to how I was.”

In a way, that’s what Where We Go Now is about for me. For me, that is the message of your Gifts and Losses. You are scarred (literally) by the war with cancer but, with time and very hard work and great support from many people, you have found the gifts and you have grown and changed in wonderful ways without losing the essence of the girl and woman I love so much, and have these last fifty years (give or take).

Thank you for all you have given to me, even during your most difficult times. I’ll never forget your calling me in the middle of some of the worst pain from your surgery to share an insight about a particularly problematic relationship in my life.  Who does that??  I’ll tell you who – someone stronger and more caring than most people in the world, my best friend, Debbie.

Peace to you, the kids and your husband.

But also best wishes for an exciting, challenging and rewarding 2012 for us both, working sometimes apart, sometimes together and sometimes in parallel in our most exciting personal and business ventures to date!

Much love,
Linda