Best Friends Weather the Storm

February 1 – It’s snowing like crazy outside, just like it was at about the same time nine years ago. Somehow, in the midst of all the snow and ice, my brother and his wife got to the hospital for the birth of their firstborn, Addison Rose. She was one of many gifts delivered that year by the storm.

I had no idea when the first flakes fell that I’d soon have my best friends under my roof. Mona, Jeanie and I are “heart” friends who weather storms together. We’ve shared the gale force winds brought by children, the squalls of marriage, the losses of parents and jobs. We’ve prayed together, played together and stayed together regardless of geography. We love each other's kids, husbands and dogs. We stick together through thick and thin--literally and figuratively.

That winter blizzard provided a joyful and rare occurrence to gather since the three of us—Mona, Jeanie and I—no longer lived in the same town. The Amtrak, bringing Mona in from western Kansas, was running late. Of course Jeanie and I knew both the name of her doctor and the time of the appointment, so nosily (Gladys Kravitz, anyone?), we phoned to report that Mona would be late.

All over town, folks lost power including Mona’s hotel and my mom’s condo. Next was the home of Jeanie and her husband Phil. Jeanie doesn’t mind roughing it, but she hates being cold. By the evening of February 2, we were having a spontaneous house party with folks camped out in front of the fireplace, on the family room sofa, in the kids’ rooms… Once the streets were plowed, Jeanie and Phil’s daughter Erin came over and she and Mona made Tortilla Soup and we had an impromptu ninth birthday party for my Hannah.

There’s a certain camaraderie that comes with braving the storm. Humans v. Mother Nature can be a real bonding experience and the storm of 2002 was no exception. It was a sweet, simple time with nothing fancy about it, yet it’s my richest storm memory ever.