Now what?

Finally! I now have my bachelor's degree. I have been working on this thing for what seems like FOREVER. Three semesters at MSU, one semester at OTC- thanks Kim, for all the fun times there, and then the last five years doing night classes at Drury. And now I finally have that little piece of paper with my name on it. And it feels GREAT!!

Friends

So, I'm at Wal-Mart, no make-up on, old denim capris and a t-shirt when I run into my best friend from high school. Our paths rarely cross anymore. She, of course, looked great. Not in that over-done trying-too-hard kind of way, but in the way that looked like she might just wake up looking like that. Natural, radiant beauty. I was immediately transported back to high school when we would crowd around the mirror in my mom's bathroom getting ready to go out for the night. Through the haze of hairspray and perfume, I would look at our reflections and wonder why anyone would ever look at me when she was around.

As we stood in the aisle and chatted, I could feel my zits swell and my grey roots grow, while her skin remained porcelain and hair shiny. After we said good-bye with promises of phone calls and lunches, I felt terrible. I felt ugly and fat and old. How can someone my own age make me feel old??

And I started to wonder how a friendship that was once so close was now so awkward. There was no big falling out, just a falling away. It reminds me of that email about friends that are friends for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

I always thought that we would be friends for a lifetime, but somehow it didn't turn out that way. I will always cherish the memories of us. From falling out of a tent - it was on stilts- at Girl Scout camp in 6^th grade, to smoking lettuce- literally - and my first -and only- time spray painting. I remember thinking that we would be friends forever. Our children would grow up together, our husbands would go hunting together, and we would remain the unstoppable duo we always had been. Things changed, though I'm not quite sure when.

Even though I am older now and I realize that even the best friendship is not guaranteed to last, I am still grateful for each of my friends. They mean the world to me and I am glad I don't know which ones will leave and which ones will stay. I truly believe that God puts certain people in our lives for a reason, and I am blessed with the friends he has given me. I love you all!