24 years

This morning I sent a text to my friend Cassie, wishing her a happy 32nd birthday. Later on I was thinking about her as I was driving down the highway, and it occurred to me that we've been friends for 24 years.

That's a long time.

The Hollifields moved next door, if my memory serves me correctly, when I was almost 7 years old. I was much more shy then, and my mom had to force me to go meet the new family. I still remember Cassie opening the door, wearing her pinstripe shirt with "Annie" (as in the musical) embroidered where a pocket might be. It is not an exaggeration to say we were immediate friends.

Some years later my mom and I were sitting in the den after school, talking about my latest problems with a certain friend who was hurting my feelings at school. The doorbell rang during our talk, and we both knew who was at the door. My mom smiled and said words I'll never forget: "You'll always have Cassie."

I don't think she could have known just how true that would be.

Cassie and her brother John went to a Christian school where her mom was also a teacher. We used to think it would be the best thing in the world if we could go to the same school, but now I think it was such a blessing that we didn't. We never got tired of each other, never argued. In the summers we went to Vacation Bible School at both her church and mine. We played on her grandparents' farm behind our neighborhood. We swam countless hours in the pool at my house. We played Barbies. We built fun houses and played with Maple Town figures in the basement at her house. We had sleepovers and read Archie comics. We dreamed about fantastic treehouses that our dads would build for us with rope bridges and bedrooms. (No, they never did.) As high-schoolers we would walk the neighborhood for exercise and talk about all the latest happenings at our own schools. Our walks continued into college when we were home for breaks, with the talks changing from high school gossip to tales of true love. Cassie married her love three years before I married mine, and I could not stop crying the evening after her wedding. I knew my friendship wasn't over, but our childhood most certainly was.

As it turns out, losing our childhood hasn't been so bad. Though we're wives and mommies in different states, our friendship is no less genuine and meaningful now than it was when we were children. I look forward to our face-to-face talks, but even emails or phone calls are a bit like sitting down with her in person. The communication is just that familiar. When I count my blessings, I count her twice.

Cassie, I hope we're friends for 24x3 more years!