“We Have Never NOT Known Each Other…”
Ahh, Friends. This week, Emily and I had a tearful experience speaking with lifelong friends, Katie and Margaux. Less than one year apart in age and connected by two mothers who made a concerted effort to maintain their friendship, ultimately leading to an inter-generational history of friendships between mothers and children.
From mischief to major milestones, Katie and Margaux re-lived some of their favorite moments with us. Emily and I giggled and grinned as we opened an email filled with photographs commemorating their decades together. Then… THEN, we stumbled across a copy of a handwritten letter Katie sent to Margaux for Margaux’s 18th birthday (that’s how we did things BEFORE THE INTERNET). We marveled at the pure love reflected in her recollection of memories and advice for when Margaux heads off to college the following year. What a great way to hold that memory again and again–we are grateful that Margaux tucked that letter in a scrapbook to share with us.
Margaux showed Katie the world of Six Flags over Georgia with vigor and zeal, and Katie described the beauty of having another person in your life who allows you to be yourself without judgment. As children, we need that unconditional acceptance for us to “try on” each part of our personality as we figure ourselves out.
Katie helped Margaux forget about the rules of life by “getting lost” in adventure; keeping each other safe while they throw off the structure placed on them by Southern culture. Emotional risks, physical risks, no matter what–they would do it together.
Perhaps the most touching thing we easily recognized in their friendship was their willingness to say “Of course I’ll be there,” throughout it all. They endured (and are enduring) difficult experiences of moving away, health diagnoses, aging parents, and raising their own children now. They were each other’s first phone calls…they opened the door to find the other standing there, ready to help. Of course, the other would be there to support the other. No question.
And of course, we experienced yet another Disney character moment…as we imagined Margaux telling Katie, “Run faster, I can show you the world!” Cue the Aladdin music. We’re on the magic carpet seeing the world through their eyes.
Thank you for sitting at our table and sharing your friendship with us. A friendship that you have prioritized and intentionally maintained which creates an example for us all.
-Meredith