The year was 2002... It was an ordinary fall day... I walked into my mom's group meeting at St. Francis in the Fields church in Louisville, KY expecting our ordinary meeting... but little did I know that God was about to drop an EXTRAORDINARY gal right into my life!
A new girl arrived and began to tell her story... her husband's job had moved them to Louisville, KY from Australia and she was nothing short of miserable over the whole experience. My heart broke as she described the loneliness and sadness she felt being so far away from family and friends. The more we chatted the more we found we had in common... she had a little boy the same age as mine named Harry... My little boy was named William! (Um hello!?! William and Harry??? OK seriously we HAD to become friends if for nothing else but the sake of our boys sharing names with the royal family).... We shared the same birthday (well technically she's OLDER than me but we both celebrate on April 17th)... We planned a playdate, and then another playdate and we connected in a way that I can't even put into words. Over the course of that year we became the best of friends. I had my daughter Campbell, she had her daughter Sophie. I cooked traditional American Thanksgiving dinner, she cooked the most amazing chocolate sauce pudding thingie that I've ever experienced. Our boys connected over Thomas and the Wiggles (OK who are we kidding!?! Will was not the easiest toddler to connect with so they were forced to tolerate each other for the sake of our friendship:))
Then it happened... she tearfully told me they were moving back to Australia! So as quickly as she came into my life, she was going home. I was sad. Really, really sad. I mean in that year she had truly become like a sister to me. I questioned whether we would keep in touch, remain friends?
Fast forward to April 2011... my sweet husband plans a surprise 40th birthday luncheon for me. As he is thanking everyone for being there he mentions one person in particular that he needed to thank for being there... she took time off work, her husband was kind enough to keep her kids so she could come and I thought "what's the big deal with that?" and then he said it... She. traveled. thousands. of miles. to be. here... and before I could even process it there she was. That EXTRAORDINARY gal was standing in front of me. That EXTRAORDINARY gal traveled across the globe to surprise ME!
I could sit here and type all day and truly not be able to adequately put into words what an AMAZING, SELFLESS, LOVING, FORGIVING, ENCOURAGING, FUN, EXTRAORDINARY woman, mother, wife, and above all friend she is!
And if you are wondering if we kept in touch the answer is yes! We talk, text, facebook almost daily. Just the other day she was giving me grief for not blogging recently and wanted to know when I was going to blog again... So to my EXTRAORDINARY friend Sally I hope you enjoyed this blog post! You are amazing and beautiful and my life is fuller because of you! Thank you for your love, encouragement, and joy... can't WAIT to hug you in person in November!!!
