Bonds

I step outside into the dampened night air.  My toes touch the wet pavement and I inhale deeply as the wind dances above me, rustling the tree tops.  There is a calmness to the night and I find the coolness in the air invigorating as I close my eyes and take another breath.  I gaze across the street and see the Johnson's darkened house tucked in tight for the night, I'm sure...

Earlier in the evening as the moon made it's way to our little area of the world, my only daughter and I walked home from my parents' home, six houses away, down the street to our house.   And on the way, I told her a bit about my childhood. I shared with her how Grandma H. used to let me spend the night at her house which was two doors down from mine, even on school nights, she let me...I tell her.   I told her how she would make me whatever I wanted for breakfast the next day and she would plan it out the night before as I laid next to her in her double blue bedded bed.  And my sweet Ayla looked up at me and let me know that she has heard this story before...


And as we make our way across the park entrance, blackened with no light but that from the moon, I let her know of my fears.  I shared with my darling girl how I ran past the park on many darkened nights with a stomach churning fast on my way over to my spend the night at my best friend, Amy's (Johnson's) house.  She lived across the street from the scary park and four houses over.  I always crossed at the crosswalk. I never strayed too far from the sidewalk and lets just say... crosswalks have always been a MUST with me!

I pointed out to her where I crossed and told her how fast I ran, and she smiled bright as we turned up our driveway.  And as we walk upward to our place we call home I quietly offer up a prayer that  she will someday have a friend as dear as I did.  A friend who will be always waiting with a lightened porch and a kindred, sacred bond that lasts throughout the years.  

As the stillness of the night settles in and the crickets make their melodious music, I pray for my darling sister-less daughter.  I ask that she will find a friend, a good friend who loves her more like a sister and will always be there for her through thick and thin.  And while whispering these words, my heart is filled with gratitude for the grace that God has lavished upon me through the bond of friendship.  I thank Him for the "picking up where we left off" moments and for the soundboards of the daily grinds....

A car speeds by with the bass blaring and I gaze down at the yellow begonias beneath my feet snapping me back into the hear and now.  Jonah will be driving one of those cars in four short years and my annuals need watering first thing in the morning, despite the fresh dew dripping from their petals.   But tonight I have been reminded of the sacredness of life-long friendships and how precious they are.

Time will pass and life will go on, but the bonds we make while growing up will always be....