My Sister Savvy and I have always had a thing for good
sunglasses. You are not going to catch a cheap pair on either of us. It’s a splurge
and each time we see each other usually one of us or both of us has a new pair.
Usually from Italy. Ya we are totally spoiled and travel a lot too-but besides
that we are both pretty modest and humble people.
(wish I have picture but she has the sunglass ones on her
phone!!!)
Well this weekend we used our chic sunglasses for a
different reason than the sun. We actually wore them on our walk in the rain in
order to have them when we took photos of us so that we looked better. We used
them to hide the little growing lines around our eyes and the fact that we look
more tired than we did a decade ago. Wearing no makeup and just waking up does
not help either!
Our conversations have shifted too. We used to sit around
in little bikinis and tank tops and little shorts and talk about what we would
name our 6 girls that we would have between us (between us we now have 6 boys
and 2 girls). Now we talk about our retirements, how we are going to pay for University
of the kids and what type of wedding video we will strongly encourage our
daughters to have.
For those of you who don’t already know Sister Savvy is
not my real sister but she sure feels
like one in so many ways. She is one of my closet, longest, history sharing
friends and we have been the type of BFF that has shared many many things
together. All the good, all the bad, all the beautiful. We have a good chunk of
our relationship lived long distance too-and have done this well. I love her to
bits.
And I love that on this weekend we made time for each
other and to connect and reconnect, to share and share again. To set the stage
for the next big transition of our lives which may require some seriously
expensive sunglasses! I love that I connect with her intellectually on so many
levels, and emotionally on so many others. I love that it feels like we are at
exactly the same stage of our lives even though our lives are very different in
some way and so similar in others. And I love that she loves my kids. I love
that she invites them to missions, and invites them to tennis camps.
I love her amazing husband and I love her two boys and
her three step kids. I love that they all call me “Auntie Tarina”. I secretly most
love the CD she makes me every single year and the way she loves poutine.
What I love most about this girl? Is the way that NO MATTER
what we always, always find our way back to each other. Always. We are there
thick and thin and truly love each other unconditionally.
And the second thing I love about her (ok just as equal)
is the Mom and Smom she is. She is in my books…….the very best in so many ways.
I love how her stepson sleeps at her ex’s house, I love the way she loves all
of her children so much and makes them all feel important and loved always, I
love the way she bakes Christmas fudge and does Quiet Elfie. Iove that she
loses it on her kids and prays every morning with them. I love the Mother she
was and the one she has become. I love that she has made her beautiful life
beautiful. I admire the work, the dedication and the tenacity that it has taken
to get there. I admire her profoundly as a Mother.
And because of her I have also become a better Mom. She
has influenced me greatly. Many of my traditions have been influenced by her,
or inspired by her or I have stolen them from her. I copy her shamelessly and
this blog is all due to her great idea. She shares her savviness with me and I
adore that.
I feel great peace tonight knowing that my kids are all
welcome in her home and will get to share a great piece of that mothering pie. I have always believed that children are
better raised by a village and what better village than hers to welcome and ground them
through the turbulent years. I intend to make this happen…..thanks so much for
the invite!
And I love the fact that even though my husband and I are
not very religious… she respects that that she prays for us and our pursuits
graciously and honestly and willingly. She prays for us when we need her too
without asking any questions-and we appreciate that so incredibly much.
Whenever I need a boost or my family needs her-she keeps us in her hearts and
her prayers and that is an amazing friend for sure.
So it was a great weekend at Trent just us girls. And I look
forward to the many years ahead of us as we continue on our own road of blending
the most important pieces of ourselves, our life transitions and our families.
And I will always eat poutine for her, and change my
outfits many times for her, and feed her yummy desserts, and talk and talk on
couches, and open my mind, and my eyes. And especially try my hardest to be
better, and wiser and brighter, and better a Mother-for her and because of her.
This weekend was yummier than the best red velvet vanilla
cupcake.
I hope for her I was as good company as her hotdogs and poutines:)
