Born only one day after me (well, okay - four years and one day after me) Brandi and I share a Scorpio status. Not that either of us really subscribe to the astrological world; we certainly have better things in common than November. Things like our careers, our elevated status of family, an affection for dogs, clothes, cards and Grey's Anatomy. We had lunch today on the patio at Joey's Crowfoot (did I mention an affection for good food?) and, seeing as she has lived in Kelowna for...eight?!....years already, it was great to get to see her today. Life had somehow been happening and we let a few years pass between conversations. Today's was a great one though. I knew it would be.
Brandi and I met for the very first time when she was substitute teaching for my teaching partner, in my team teaching classroom, back in 1998. Having just moved here from Edmonton, she and her husband Corey arrived to work in ministry with youth and I was drawn to their vision. Over the next several years I joined them as a volunteer in a youth group and eventually as general manager of a youth centre. We spent a lot of time together, working with young people but we also carved out time, just for our friendship. We'd walk, we'd talk, we'd meet at the gym where I would put in a half-hearted effort. We'd see movies or watch fluff on TV. We went on a couple road trips while she still lived in Calgary and then, after they moved to Chicago and then the Okanagan, Brandi and Corey's home address would become my single girl's road trip destination.
Boy, that last paragraph covered a lot! Basically from 1998 to 2007 and several thousand kilometers. Two children were even born! I don't really feel like I need to share all of our secrets to convey that Brandi was (IS!) an important person in my life. What is important is the bond we formed; this doesn't require detailed explanations of the past! She and I were friends during some formative years and life's circumstance separated our proximity and eventually the amount of time we spent talking or together. No matter. People talk all the time about how "real friends"are ones who you can pick right up with after any amount of time and Brandi and I are cliche that way. Thank goodness!
Over the past few years we had gotten out of touch I had thought about Brandi and her family a lot (and OFTEN wished she would post more to FaceBook!). I have since learned there have been lots of celebrations, a few struggles and challenges and that she is still very much the same open, warm, kind woman. She is an incredible mom, wife, daughter and sister, is excelling in her career (if the BC gov't would ever just recognize their teachers appropriately so that she could get back to her important work) and, since I last saw her about 7 years ago, hasn't aged a day! I hope that's something Scorpios have in common. Oh yeah, if we believed in that stuff...
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