The Power of Dear Friends

In the past 48 hours, it has been made abundantly clear to me the power of dear friendships.

Saturday evening, I went to my friends' Katie and Dave's house to spend the night. They live in West Chester, about 45 min from me here in 'The City.' Katie and i have been friends since we were roommates our freshman year in college; we hit it off from the start. Our lives have changed, of course, through the years, but Katie and i never lost sight of the friendship that brought us together. And her husband Dave is just a huge added bonus! I was a little sad that i didn't get more time to hang out with Dave as well, beyond the literal few minutes i saw him.

I left Sunday morning to head back, only to be joined by Katie again later that afternoon and into the evening. She got to meet Mr. Henry Telford and fell in love immediately. I loved looking at her face as she held him - so heartwarming. After a nice visit with Lil Man, the two of us went back to the RMH, she got the tour, and then I got to fulfill a craving i'd had since Henry was 3 months old in my belly: Indian Food. Yum. We had about 4 restaurants all within a few blocks of us to choose from and picked "New Delhi." It was crowded and warm and smelled wonderful and I stuffed myself with spicy goodness. Thanks for the treat, Katie!!!! And thank you, too, for spending those days with me - it was a nice little diversion from the "same ol."

Then, today, Monday, the next day, four of my dearest coworkers from Wegmans made a DAY TRIP (5 hrs one way) to see me and to meet Henry. We met at the hospital around 10am and everyone got acquainted with Hank and his nurses. Ron packed some clothes for me, as well as for Henry, and so i was excited to put his little clothes stash at the end of his bed - some comforts from home. Amanda brought him a super soft blankie and big stuffed froggie and Pam brought a lullabye CD which i'll play for him tomorrow (he's got a portable player right in his bed!).

The ladies also brought me several cards from folks in the store, all expressing their love and well-wishes for our family and Henry. As i type this now, its hitting me how amazing my friends are. How wonderfully loving the people i work with are. Even the folks that i barely say HI to... honestly, its so incredibly humbling. I've got so much "Paying it Forward" to do, i don't think i'll ever break even!

(From left to right: Amanda, Mary, Pam and Christa - Halloween 2007)

The gals then treated me to an awesome yummy lunch at a joint around the corner called "Marathon Grill" and from there we went to King of Prussia Mall, the biggest on the east coast (or so i hear). The ladies had a blast hopping from one store to the next.

So to my friends in the above post, as well as everyone that Ron and i know who have included us in their lives with our situation ---> i cannot express enough my thanks and gratitude. I can only hope and wish to bring it full circle in some way, in this lifetime.