Gretchen

Gretch came over last night. We sat in my living room drinking diet coke and eating the closest thing she could find to bon bons and talking about everything from boys we loved once upon a pimply past, to mistakes we made to the fact that our lives are happy and have meaning and purpose. Gretchen's visit last night was sent to me straight from heaven because it was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate my very soul.

When I was in 7th grade and in Mrs. Hallenbarter's social science class I met this short kid with dark blond hair who became my best friend. (That was the same year I met Mike Meeker.) Gretchen and I stayed friends throughout high school, seeing each other through everything ranging from summer camp, first love, cramps, experimenting with wine coolers and cigarettes, softball tournaments, boys, boys, boys, boys, lots of blue eyeliner and salon selectives, tanning, getting a tan, oh and laying out in the sun, getting our drivers licenses, doing our Spanish commercials for Senorita Almas' class, eating lots of pringles, dr. pepper and frozen ice cream bon bons, aerobics class and meeting/falling in love with our husbands. When I think of my childhood, Gretchen is front and center and it's always summer, I can always smell Hawaiian Tropic SPF 4 in the brown bottle, the sky is the most brilliant blue and the wind is blowing in my hair. Man, I love those memories.

Although our lives took WAY different paths than we thought they would at 15, we are both happy. Gretchen's husband is a Pastor at a super large Church here in Sacramento and he is cool and hip and cute and adores her and in her words is "the best Dad I've ever seen". She works at the church, the kids work with their youth groups at the church and they help and do amazing things for the citizens of the world and our community. Her life is rich, her 4 boys are so freakin' cute that I can't choose which ones to have the girls marry and the best thing is that she's still deep down the same Gretchen I've always known and loved. And I've never had a friend as good as her since.