Ode to a BFF.

Today is my BFF's birthday.

Her 40th!   

We've been friends since 6th grade when she moved from the Midwest to Houston. She showed up the first day of school wearing a suit.

You read that right: a suit.

In sixth grade.

I cannot offer proof in this regard, but I have a sneaking suspicion she was also wearing panty hose and a slip. 

We were in journalism together all through junior high and our friendship quickly blossomed amid the  picas and developing trays {suit notwithstanding}.

Thankfully the suit was quickly replaced by Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and the flipped-up-collar polos of the 80s.

Witness.

circa 1984

When you've been friends with something for nearly three decades you know the backstory. There is little we do not know. There is nothing left unsaid. We've simply lived through most of life's major moments together:

• Periods (you know, Aunt Flo). 
• First boyfriends.
• Heartbreak. 
• Broken bone (my collarbone after falling off the back of her moped). 
• Incarceration (together, but clearly, we were innocent). 
• Shaving.
• Sneaking out of the house.
• Sleep-away camp (journalism and volleyball camps - oh the stories there alone!).
• First limo ride (8th grade dance).
• Tampons.
• High school (the experience itself and all the little moments).
• Stealing my sister's car (did we really do that?!?)
• Serious boyfriends (really, those middle school boys were just silly).
• High school dances.
• First kisses (Jen's on my couch while wearing my sister's bunny slippers - sexy!).
• Makeup.
• Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers.
• Concerts.
• More wine coolers (but only a four pack to share).
• Unsupervised time at the beach!
• Shopping.
• Prom. 
• Graduation.
• Moving thousands of miles away (yet never breaking our bond).
• Summer as working girls in Austin.
• College Graduations.
• First Jobs.
• Again with the thousands of miles away.
• Engagements.
• Weddings. 
• Babies. 
• More babies (I had to catch up).
• Transforming from career girls to moms. 
• Loss (my parents who she too loved). 
• Daughters.
• The inevitable ups and downs of marriage.

• And now, reaching middle age.

A friend like this is priceless. She truly is one of my greatest blessings on this earth. So today, on her birthday, I celebrate her.

I celebrate her for being my friend. Through it all.

I celebrate her for being my constant counselor -- my conscience. For buoying me through the worst of times and keeping me level-headed through the best of times.

I celebrate her for growing up to become a woman I not only adore, but respect.

I celebrate her for standing strong through the storms.

I celebrate her for being my mommy mentor and never making me feel inadequate (even when my kids refuse to eat for an entire weekend).

I celebrate her for being the best BFF a friend could have.

Here's to you, J!  I love you.

And here's to our 40s -- which are going to be our best years yet!

xoxo

_________________________
Update:

Today - 5/10/11 I entered this post in Author Tina Martin's Show Off Your Bestie Contest!

Fabulous Forty!

Well, it happened. 

I turned forty. 

And as it turned out, it didn't matter what I wore. 

Or where we went. 

Or what we ate.

Though the hubs planned everything to perfection. 

Absolute perfection. 

And all the little details made me feel unbelievably spoiled and loved. 

The toast. 

My father's quote on the menu. 

The collage of embarrassing photos

{nothing makes a girl feel special like her 7th grade school pic}.

What made the morning, the afternoon and the evening so incredibly special, though, 

was being surrounded by the people I love the most. 

Many of whom I have been friends with for nearly 3 decades.  

One for a very action-packed decade. 

 And one who has only been alive 3 decades but whom holds a very, 

very special place in my heart and in our family's life.

In the end, it was Scott L. who said it best: 

"Look around, Amy, there are only a few people in the world who will stick with you through it all, and these are your people." 

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but it brought a tear to my eye. 

These are my people. 

And having them all together in one place at one time made for 

one of the most incredible days in all my forty years!