Sunshine

As I sit here tonight listening to two best friends argue over which Harry Potter movie is the best, I am reminded why this evening is so bittersweet for me.  My best friend in Anytown is moving this weekend, and I really don't know what I will do with out her.  I will call her Sunshine, because that, in fact, is what she is.  It is hard for me to put into words what an amazing person Sunshine is because there are not enough beautiful adjectives to describe her.  She is kind, warm, bubbly, funny, generous and has a wonderful spirit that lights up a room.

I met Sunshine a few months after moving to Anytown.  I had no friends yet and was struggling through a decision about what preschool class Primo should be put into.  Should he be the youngest in the class or the oldest?  Will he feel insecure about being the smallest boy or relish in being the biggest?  While all these little things seem insignificant now, they were big decisions that were weighing heavily on me at the time.

I was coming out of a New Families meeting at the school when Sunshine came up to me and introduced herself.  The next thing I knew, I was in tears, crying on the shoulder of a total stranger over a child she had never even met.  She gave me a hug and we talked for a while and she told me that everything would be alright.  And she was right.  As it turned out, her son was in Primo's class and is the same child that currently resides on my couch.

From that night on, Sunshine and I have been the best of friends.  Friendships in your 30s and 40s are complicated.  It's hard to get to know people on a more-than-acquaintance basis.  I find that as I get older, it's the friends I have known that longest that mean the most to me.  Don't get me wrong, I have some amazing friends here in Anytown, friends that I would do anything for and that I trust completely.  But it is a rare and special occasion that you meet someone that is so genuinely kind and happy that she brings sunshine into every room she enters.

So as I sit here in front of the computer and type, it is with tears in my eyes and a very heavy heart. She has a new and exciting journey ahead of her.  And while I know that I will always be part of her life, it is a journey that will be moving forward without me.

So just for tonight, I will shift my focus away from this weekends endeavors and let myself feel sad --  just for a little while.

Peace and love.