Sometimes (If You're Lucky)

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you meet a new lady at Church. You hit it off in the hallway when you first introduce yourself, you get her phone number, and you hope you can be her friend.

Sometimes, if you're lucky, the first time you call this potential friend, you realize how easy it is to talk to this lovely and funny person, discovering all of the things that you have in common, and you stay on the phone forever, without even realizing how much time has gone by.

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you are assigned to be her visiting teacher for a short while and your bond deepens. And you think, it is so easy and wonderful to be her friend.

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you become such a fixture in one another's lives that her kids call you "Auntie Katie," which makes you melt every time you hear it.

Sometimes, if you're lucky, your friendship remains, over years of carpools, play-dates, pregnancies, moves (first closer to, and then further from, each other), many trials and difficulties, and, of course, various family drama.

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get to be there for special events in each other's lives. And you recognize that while these events are important, you are also just happy in the knowledge that you are in each other's lives, in some form or another, every single day. 

Sometimes, if you're lucky, your oldest, second, and youngest children are the same age as your friends' children. You endure your last pregnancies together, and your kids come to love each other as if they were siblings. (And your third children, though different in age and personality, finally decide that they will get along, since you are going to be friends with their mom for a very long time.)

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you love your friend's children as if they were your own, celebrating their accomplishments and victories, both small and large, and you know that she feels the same way about yours. 

Sometimes, if you're lucky, your best friend is Sarah. Through your 7+ years of easy, effortless friendship, she has supported you, listened to you, validated you, has let you vent and rant and cry when the need has arisen, and has been there for you in every way.

And sometimes, if you're lucky, you get to look forward to many more years of love and friendship with this wonderful person that you happened met in a hallway at church (what seems like) a lifetime ago.