Early Thanksgiving

Picture a spiral notebook, covered in hearts and unicorns, with the words, "I LOVE all my friends. 2 gether. 4 ever. NoEndEver." scrawled in flowery 13-yr. old script all over its cover. THAT is, in a nutshell, how I feel about my friends. I have a constant, continual crush on them. They never cease to find new ways to make me love and appreciate them, and I count my lucky stars every day that I am so blessed with all of these amazing jack asses in my life. They rule.

(This photo was taken at Malcontent Mama's kick ASS white trash party like...13 years ago. I'm the pregnant bride with the 40 in hand, wearing a koozie around my neck.)

Since my family is small (ostensibly, me, The Geej, and my mom--with some extended, but not very connected aunts, uncles and cousins out there), my friends are truly my family. When my dad died, it was my friends who were surrounding me. Not my family. When I collapsed at work in July 2004 and had to go to the hospital in an ambulance, it was my friends who took care of me. When I had my hysterectomy this summer, my friends came to the rescue to take care of the baby so my mom could come up to the hospital to visit me. In short, they are nothing less than amazing. Not just because of how they care for me, but because of who they are as individuals. Man, they're awesome.

I think the worst card one could be dealt would be to go through his/her life and not ever know what it means to have a true, TRUE friend. In that respect, I am wealthy beyond imagination. And I thank God/Buddha/Allah/Ganesh/Bob Marley.