You've Got A Friend

You've Got A Friend" by James Taylor

Press above link to hear the song...

Two peas in a pod...

A brother is a friend given by Nature. - Jean Baptiste Legouve

Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow. - Benjamin Disraeli

I sought my soul, but my soul I could not see. I sought my God, but my God eluded me. I sought my brother and I found all three. - Unknown

Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring, quite often the hard way. - Pamela Dugdale

"Brother and sister, together as friends, ready to face whatever life sends. Joy and laughter or tears and strife, holding hands tightly as we dance through life."

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.  ~Vietnamese Proverb

The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose.  ~Garrison Keillor

The thought of siblings weighs heavy on my heart these days for may reasons...

My munchkins, my brothers and the Mr's.

A friend shared with me these words in regard to her own children; 

your sister is the first friend you ever had.

I had never thought of it that way, but you know what? It is so true!

I adore watching these two play. I love listening to them giggle in the other room.

I am so thankful they have each other. Things may not always be perfect between them, but I pray they love each other enough to put themselves aside.  

My mother taught us this. I have two younger brothers. Being the oldest and only girl had its challenges.  Two brothers 18 months apart had their own. The one constant in all of this was my mother. She taught us what family is about. It isn't always easy, but we work through it where the love is deeper than it was before. The key word is WE.  We are a family. We are a team she would say. We worked through things as a family, as a team. I think it is this perspective that has carried us through some rough patches.  Because we worked through things as a team when we were younger, as adults, when we have issues with each other, we can handle them alone. And we know we have too, for the good of the team. And if we can't, we know our Mom will be there to help us work through it...and when I say help I mean make. So we fight, we argue, we kiss and make up!

My brothers are the world to me. I can't imagine them not in my life. I adore them! They may be men, but they will always be three to me.

I pray this for my children.

I pray I am the Mom who can teach this value to my children.

I pray this home is never divided.

Silver and Gold

I said my first good bye today...so, it begins. I grew up saying good bye. Good bye was the norm because we moved a lot. My father was transferred often or he took new sales jobs. It was normal for me to not be settled. I was ok with this. I never knew different. My mother always said I was building character to which I responded "I think I have enough character now!" and I did. Then she said good bye to him, but thats another story for another day. We finally settled into one of the most beautiful places (see post below). We lived in a condo across the street from the beach while our home was being built. We live in the same condos now. How ironic that the first place I called home, the condo, in one of the most beautiful places is also the last. Have I come full circle?

So, now I suppose it is time to say good bye. Although we are not leaving until July/August it starts now. It starts with a dear friend from college who is in town visiting her family. Lets call her Design Diva. She makes it home to one of the most beautiful places from a banjo playing, back woods kind of place once maybe twice a year she says...if she is lucky. The description of where she lives are my words not hers. I am totally stereotyping, but when I drive thru this state I often wonder what it adds to our union except wildflowers. Design Diva and I were in design school together. We spent many a late nights in the lab constructing our plans on the computer. We spent many days at our tables in class coloring, making sure to stay in lines. Charles, our pudgy, white haired instructor who really needed a breathe mint, called it "poche" pronounced "Poe Shey". Everything you needed to learn, you learned in kindergarten...coloring that is and treating others as you would want to be treated. Design Diva did both very well! She has talent and is a treasure...

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. She is gold. Her goodness radiates and beams. We met for lunch to catch up and say good bye. My first good bye in a long time. Others have said it to me. Now it is my turn again...another full circle. This time is different. This time I know what good bye really means. I suppose the first time is the hardest. The more you say it, the easier it will be. I am excited for what awaits our little family! I am excited to meet my silver, but that doesn't make saying good bye to the gold any easier. Both are precious!

Friendship

We sat outside at a restaurant having drinks overlooking this beautiful church. A new friendship was forged with Diamond Lady and her Handsome Greek. The weather was gorgeous! The conversation flowed. We were on a blind date, the Mr. and I with our new friends. We met online, communicated through email until deciding to meet in person. This date was not unlike any other online blind date I suppose. After drinks we took the metro to Arbat where we had a yummy diviner of Uzbekistan cuisine. It was quite hilarious the order we placed. You would have thought we were feeding an army! The food arrived and we all laughed...when ordering shush kabobs you think you are getting four or five skewers, like the picture. We had decided to order a couple of things and share. But This Is Russia, so we only got one...for the whole table! We then made our way to a dessert place because the Diamond Lady had suggested. We didn't get much for dinner after all! It was lovely! Diamond Lady and Handsome Greek escorted us back to our metro stop as any kind date would do. I left feeling happy and excited. The anticipation of seeing Diamond Lady tomorrow thrills me. I wonder if they liked us as much as we liked them? Ahhh, the fun of dating!