letters and packages

I have a long time friend. We've known each other since junior high. We've been through close times and not-so-close times. With the exception of 3 months we've always lived in different states. I was a lonely 6th grader with no friends when her family moved to our town in Northern California. We met at church and hit it off immediately. Three short months later her family moved again... far away. Thus began a long friendship of letters.

We wrote to each other on a weekly basis. I saved a lot of the letters. It is fun to go through them all these years later. Our handwriting was bubbly back then. The stationary was bright florescent colors. I loved Lisa Frank stuff back them... purple, pink, stars, hearts, unicorns, kittens... very junior highish stuff.

As we got older we talked on the phone more. We talked about boys late into the night. I remember one conversation where we listed out the ten boys we wanted to kiss! I think we were in 16. (Neither of us had kissed anyone yet at that point.) We also continued writing letters during this time. We both wrote with the same amount of detail. This common hobby of writing is the thing that kept our friendship alive.

During college we were not as close. We drifted a little after she got married. I was busy with new friends while she was occupied figuring out marriage stuff. Letters were more sporatic and phone calls less frequent. After a few years I go married. We started corresponding more, which leads us to present day.

My friend is also pregnant. She is due two weeks after I am. For the past 8 months we've been emailing, writing, and chatting nonstop about our pregnancies and the future. We've been exchanging packages full of babies items. When one of us finds a clearance item or a steal at a garale sale, we think about the other and wonder if it is package-worthy. We know each other's tastes. She knows I love the Baby Gap. I know she dislikes the feel of micro-fleece.

I am thankful for our letter-writing and package-sending hobby. It's fun to have a friend who has the same delight in sharing silly details and baby trinkets.