Hello; goodbye

Today I said hello to an old friend from high school for the first time since high school. Sadly, I also said goodbye to her. (Or more accurately: I’ll see you again, and in less than 20 years this time!)

Amy and I were always friendly in school. Not always best buds and we didn’t really “hang out” much, but she was always one of the people I liked very much. In fact, about five years ago I saw that she was on Classmates.com and I searched her name on Google trying to find out more about her. I was excited to learn that she was living not too far from me and that she was in a similar career field to me. But I didn’t really know how to contact her because she was unlisted. Then we connected on Facebook and I realised that the Amy [Married Name] I Googled was a different person than the Amy I wanted to connect with! (This is all probably news to Amy; I never told her of my previous stalking before!)

On Facebook, Amy and I rarely connected because life got in the way. But after Paul died, she sent me the most amazing, heartfelt note and it touched my soul. After that, I found myself peeking at her blog from time-to-time, but never commenting. Then one day I was writing a blog post about saying goodbye to my car and noticed that she had a similar post on her blog – a post I linked to.

Soon, we were reading each other’s blogs regularly, and commenting on them. Even though my old friend lived clear on the other side of the state, she became an amazing support network for me. She was there when I needed her, offering words of support, wisdom, and encouragement.

For two years now, we’ve rekindled our friendship online. And today we met for lunch (with our sisters, Celeste and Maile, who were also friends and classmates growing up). It was like we’d only seen each other yesterday. It was so comfortable, and so long overdue!

I am sad that I am leaving behind such an amazing friend, but I am so happy that she will be on the other side of a keyboard any time I need her. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful friend.

Thank you, Amy, for everything! I love you and will certainly stay in touch. You’re the kind of friend everyone in this world needs – a true friend!!

[Left to right: Amy, Maile, Celeste, and me.]