Good Times

There are some people that you just know you will be friends with forever, even if you don't see them for years at a time, or speak with them for months on end. But, you are grateful for and blessed by their friendship. My friend Vanessa is one of those people. I met her through Jimmy, and to tell the truth I was a little jealous of her for the first few years I knew her. She was so smart, sweet and beautiful. I am no longer jealous of her (I love her too much for that,) but I do have a bit of hero worship going on.

Vanessa is one of my heroes for these reasons:

She is smart - she became a pediatrician!
She is a very hard worker - see above accomplishment.
I have NEVER heard her say a bad thing about anyone.
She is brave - she is all of 5'2" (maybe) and married a man who is 6'9" and had 5 children with him.
She is VERY, VERY brave -When her twins were born, she had 5 children under the age of 6.
She is extremely patient and emanates a sense of love - you feel better just being around her and she makes you want to be a better person.
She never complains. Never. I mean it. I have never heard her complain.

Last year, my sweet friend Vanessa had to spend three days in a hotel room. Long story short, she had become ill, and had to have her thyroid radiated. She couldn't be around anyone and so she was shipped off to a hotel until she stopped glowing. What do you think this mother of 5 small children did while in the hotel?

Sleep, order room service,sleep, read, sleep, paint her nails, sleep and watch TV like the rest of us would have done, right?

No, Vanessa WROTE A CHILDREN'S BOOK. And that is one more reason why she is one of my heroes!













While we were in Albuquerque, we were able to see Vanessa and her husband Notch, along with their beautiful children. Vanessa's sister Andrea was also at the house with her husband and three children. Are you counting? There were 11 children in the house all under the age of 10 ! Vanessa's oldest is the only boy among them so it was estrogen city! It was a blast. The older kids were running around like banshees and the babies were falling asleep left and right in the middle of all the chaos. It was like a Narcolepsy convention. Every time I turned around I saw a little girl passed out on a couch or a parent. It was great! The guys went out and picked up pizza from Dion's, our favorite pizza place when we were in college. I think they were all desperate for some other males to talk to and enjoyed a conversation void of anything feminine. We went through 5 or 6 pizzas, a case of Capri Suns and half a case of Hansens soda from Costco. It was fabulous!

We had to tear ourselves away, but we did get a copy of Vanessa's book, and lots of memories to hold us until the next time. I don't know when it will be, but I know that doesn't matter. Whether we get our broods together this summer or in three years, it will seem like we just saw each other yesterday, and we will pick up right where we left off.