Distant Friends

Once upon a time, I had a baby boy. And I was nervous whether I was "doing it right". And I was nervous that I was "doing it all wrong". And I knew all the things I did not want to do, but needed help in doing what I wanted to do.

In this search for like mindedness, I stumbled upon a message board of the type of parenting style we mostly subscribe to. People came and went on the board, but there were definite regulars asking questions from discipline to sleepless nights to nutrition. The site who hosted the board started to become a pain, but the group wanted, or should I even say needed, to stay together. It was about the time that people were just starting to mainstream into Facebook. And so a group was formed on Facebook of about 30 ladies from all over North America.

Since then, we've grown along with our children. From those discussions about ear aches to discussions about marriage to recommendations for vacations to walking with people through their divorces to celebrating new babies to choosing kids' schools and anything and everything in between. We know parts of each others' lives that most near us do not. It's really become an incredibly special group of very diverse women.

And today, one of those special friends was in town for a conference, so we met up for breakfast. There was no awkwardness that I'd worried would exist. There was no searching for things to say. It was like sitting down with an old friend. Because that's really who she is to me. What an amazing thing that is.