Katy

It’s a special day, my Friends.  Christmas has passed, New Year’s resolutions have gone by the wayside, stores are stocked with big red hearts filled with chocolates and conversation heart’s are shouting out messages of “Kiss Me!” “Hug Me!” and “Call Me!”

I, however, am shouting out. . . “Wait!  Hold the phone!  What about Katy’s Birthday?”  Today, January 13th,  is the birthday of my lovely friend, Katy.

I have known Katy since we were in the single digit numbers. . 5 or 6 maybe.  Through our elementary years we did the slumber party thing, we traveled in the same circles, and were friends as much as young girls can be.  It was in 8th grade, when we began running together, that our friendship really got it’s footing.  As they say, the rest is history.  From that point on we were known as “Katy and Summer”. 

Through childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood. . . we have never had an argument. Our friendship just kind of works.  It’s easy.  It’s safe.  It’s fun.  It’s real.  It’s rare, I know. 

We have walked through so many phases of life, remarkably, without a wrinkle in our bond. College, jobs, marriage, kids, different states, different interests. . . and our friendship remains a constant.  It’s pretty cool. 

Katy just knows how to be there.  There is no show or big deal made. . . she just shows up in the way that good friends do.  She was there for my devastating break-ups in high school, she rejoiced when Chad put a ring on my finger, she drove through several states to come to my baby shower, and she showed up on my front door with her running shoes in tow after my Mom died. Going on that run that day, at a time when I didn’t think I could put one foot in front of the other, was healing.  The sweat pouring, the conversation, and her listening ear gave me a momentary feeling of “normal”.  At a time when so many others don’t know what do to or say and run in the other direction. . . Katy ran with me.

So, I celebrate her today.  I celebrate the beautiful woman she has become.  I celebrate her strength and endurance that go far beyond running.  I celebrate her soul that is filled with so much goodness, it raises me up a level.  I celebrate the way that seemingly nothing shakes her.  I celebrate her laid back ways that totally balances my far less laid back ways.  I celebrate her life that is so much a part of the fabric of my own that I can’t think about the past without thinking about her. 

Katy, I celebrate you today and I thank you for all that you have added to my life.  I am so thankful for you.

Happy Birthday, my Friend!