Thanks giving, Week 33

This past week, I got to visit my dear friend Kim and her daughter Amelia out in Denver.  Oliver came, too, and it was a lovely visit.  I don't think it would hurt her feelings for me to say that I was a little nervous about this visit.  Kim and I have been friends for around 13 years now.  We met at an honors program in North Carolina the summer before our senior year of high school and just hit it off.  We saw each other maybe once or twice in the years thereafter, while she was in college at UNC-Chapel Hill and I was at Davidson, but we never spent more than a few hours or a day together.  The next time saw her for any length of time was last summer at her baby shower.  Kim and I are dear friends, no doubt, but there's a difference between blogs, email, and occasional phone call and five days together with two children under two all under the same roof.  Normal friends visit each other for an afternoon each week.  They swap childcare so the friend can get her hair cut.  They don't fly out and move in for almost a week, which is what we we did.  So I was worried -- about being in the way, about trying to help but being unhelpful, about making conversation that became too personal.  My worries were, naturally, unbased.  Kim and I (I think) had a great time, and it was hardly awkward.  We spent equal time in idle chit-chat, serious conversation, and content quiet (usually while kids were sleeping).  I tried to minimize Oliver's footprint on their house (somewhat unsuccessfully) and stay out the way when that seemed the thing to do.

So this week, I'm thankful for dear friends, near and far, on blogs, via email, and by phone, and those that let me come and move in for a week at a time.  So thank you, Kim.  I don't have too many close friends in my life, the people who I share my happiest and saddest news with, the first people I vent to, the people I tell ALL of Oliver's stories to, the people I know who regularly read my blog.  You are a treasure in my life, and I hope there are more cross-country visits in the years to come.