i have a friend

her name is leigh. we met through a mutual friend megan who, at the time, was very into pregnancy and childbirth. she had a 'women's health' meeting at her house once a month. meg and i were friends through church and she was leigh's doula. leigh and i were both at the first meeting at meg's house and we've been friends (for the most part) ever since.

when we met, we both had a daughter and we were both pregnant with our second child. our oldests are 4 months apart and our seconds are 3 weeks apart. we hung out probably once a week or so. and then maggie, her 2nd, had her first birthday party and i forgot.  i didn't go. i thought it was the following week. i felt awful. i called her to apologize. we talked. she forgave me. i felt so bad. i didn't call her for a couple of days. and she didn't call me. i thought she wasn't calling because she was mad at me. i'm so not a confrontational person. i just kept waiting for her to call. about 6 months went by, yes 6 months!!, i'm such a dork, before we talked again. and i can't even remember who called who. she laughed when i told her i thought she was mad about the birthday party. and i don't remember now why she didn't call me.

ever since then, we've been through a ton. between the 2 of us we had 3 more babies. (her 2, me 1). we did a montessori based preschool at her house 3 times a week when our kids were 4 and 2 until they were almost 6 and 4. it was so good. there were some rough patches in there. leigh is one of only 2 friends that i've gone through a fight/separation with and the relationship has healed and we've continued on. most of the time i give up. feeling like it's not worth it. have you ever had a break up with a friend?

i love leigh because she's someone i can talk to about almost anything. we have similar parenting styles. our strengths and weaknesses compliment each other and we balance each other out. she challenges me to do more because she knows i can do more than i do, but she also supports me and calms me down when i'm about to jump off the edge. she's so encouraging. i know that when i'm having a crappy day, i can call her and she'll just listen and by the end of the phone call, i'm doing better. she's so much fun to laugh with.

i am so, so happy i that our friendship has continued through these past few years. i don't know what i would have done without her.

i have a friend, her name is leigh.