Friends Forever

It has been said that blogging can be time-consuming. Time-consuming? Now that's an understatement for this particular post. It took me forever to sort it all out because of the way pictures are posted through Blogger. If you read the body of this post below the pictures first, the photos will make more sense. I meant for it to be at the top, but I could not, for the life of me, get it to work that way. 

Annette and I

We haven't taken many pictures together over the years. I'm treasuring this one!

Annette, Carol, Mayra, Celia, and Natasha

Carol & Shawn, Mayra, Celia in the front with Steve behind her, Quentin & Annette in the back row, and Jim and Natasha in the front on the right

Annette, Mayra, and Carol

Celia

Braaten, Melanie, & Ava (Mayra's daughter)

Matthew at his computer, Austin, & Grant

Ava, Melanie, & Cooper

There's nothing like a hug between friends!

Jim & Mini-me, I mean Jimmy (Natasha's son)

Melanie & Elizabeth (Natasha's daughter)

Braaten & Victoria (Natasha's oldest)

Here's the frost-bitten, sweet bunch of them!

Annette and I have been friends since the 4th grade. Growing up in Hoboken oftentimes means that you grow up in an apartment building, which gives you opportunities to have a lot of friends that live closeby. You can't get much closer than this. We both lived on the 2nd floor: Apt 4B is where her family lived and 8B was ours. That's just 4 doors down! How convenient is that? 

So after having a great time with my family, we drove to Annette's home in Waldwick, NJ. Everytime we get together, it's as if no time has passed. It's warm and comfortable.

God has put many great friends in my life, both near and far, since that friendship started in the fourth grade. He brought Celia, Mayra, and Natasha in my life in high school and college.

Celia was in my high school home room class. She sat right next to me in the 9th grade when she was transferred to Hoboken High School. We became fast friends and have never looked back. Recently with moves across the country and raising children, we lost touch for several years. Meeting at Annette's house was a reunion for us and a tearful one at that. Somehow we let circumstances get between us and my plan is to never let that happen again. Like I said in my last post, God made us for relationship. Ultimately with Him first and foremost. He also provides earthly relationships to build one another up. 

Mayra and I went to high school together but didn't know each other. It's when I was a sophomore in college that Mayra came to the same college for her freshman year. That's where our friendship blossomed. She and I have been very close since that time and were pregnant at the same time: me with my twins, Grant and Cooper, and her with Ava Nicole. Whenever I go home, we always get together. She even came out to Michigan to visit us with Annette and Quentin a few years ago. She's a hardworking, single mom.

Natasha and I went to college together, too, and I met her the same year as Mayra. She and I were in the pre-chiropractic program at Bloomfield College for a few years. We also studied in Iowa for about a year as well. After that long, hard journey studying, we both settled in New Jersey for a time raising young families. We had the pleasure of joining a MOPS group as well. Then I had to up and move to Michigan! Time and distance has not gotten in the way of our special friendship. 

After our visit over at Annette's we then headed to the airport booked on a plane to Detroit. We were off to see friends in Michigan. Our time there will be in my next post. Stay tuned...:-)