My Best Friend Shirley

Today I want to tell you about my best friend Shirley.  We have a friendship that has been slow cooking now for over 40 years.  It started gradually and in the last few years, the bond between us surpasses all understanding.

Shirley is 75 years old and I swear she has the energy of a woman in her forties.  She reminds me of the Energizer bunny who keeps going and going and going.  She works as a cashier at a restaurant 5 days a week, helps to raise her year old great grandchild, delivers water to her customers, and helps to shuttle friends without cars to pay bills on the day they receive their Social Security check or whenever they need to run errands.  She also attends her church activities about three times a week. 

When I first met Shirley, she was the top producer in sales, for a cosmetic company and through her efforts, the company was able to expand into Canada.  She received many achievement awards, including a brand new white Cadillac.  She was so proud that she actually spent the night sleeping in it.  Oh no...wait correction...her husband was so jealous of her achievement that he locked her out of the house....that's the real reason she slept in her car that night.

Can you tell where this is leading?  Well, Shirley has always wanted to be a stand up comic, and true to form....like most comedians, her life story would bring any audience to tears from laughing so much.  The funny stories she used to tell us became like an addiction for me.

Any time I had a sad story to tell about my life, I would run to Shirley and my tale of woe was like the size of pebble compared to the boulder sized sad story of her life.  At first I would feel somewhat consoled....because compared to her problems, mine paled in comparison.  Then I would feel ashamed because how could I complain when she had life so much harder than me.  Eventually I was in awe and inspired by her strength to overcome life's difficulties....and believe me she had some real doozies to overcome!

Now to the part about surpassing all understanding....we have both come to the conclusion lately that we are like 2 twisted sisters with the same menstrual cycle.  We have even nicknamed ourselves as Thelma and Louise....although we have yet to determine who's who.  Anyway....when something happens to her....about a week later something very similar happens to me and vice versa.....of course still with the varying degree "spread" between us. 

There have been times when we've cried over lunch about our similar woes.....then there have also been times when we've laughed ourselves into a stupor.  Just last month we became stupefied over the discussion of our choice of toilet paper.  The conversation went along the lines of the fact that she had 7 kids and I had 2....so therefore her private parts were worn out and thus insensitive to the scratchy cheaper brand, while my private parts required the more expensive and softer type.  Well, you get the picture how silly we can become in a matter of seconds.

Besides all of the fun I have with my friend, the best part of this friendship is that we share a common respect for one another.  We don't use what we know and shared to hurt the other person.  We give each other support.  The other day, my friend called me up and apologized to me for not thinking about me.....how a simple situation with me caused her to feel guilty because she didn't offer a helping hand....it caught me by surprise because I hadn't even given it a second thought.  It was just so touching.....her concern and love for me!

What I also find endearing about my friend are her sayings.....the latest one is "live long and get even," after my latest lament.  While that is just not my style.....I do find a degree of courage for my often timid heart.  My retort to you my friend is......."live long and stay healthy"........here's hoping we have many more years together!  I feel so blessed knowing you!

May all who read this stop and call their special friend to share the love and happy memories!