My Very Best Friend

In my version of Webster’s Dictionary under the phrase “Best Friend” is a picture of my very best friend, Charlotte Webb. No, I’m really not making things up that is really her married name. Charlotte and I met… oh my gosh I really don’t like to think about how many moons ago it was. I was working at a local insurance company and she applied for the job as receptionist. We have been best buds since!! When I still worked there our desks were right next to each other. Every single weekday she would come to work and ask me…. “Jaquetta, what did you do last night?”. When I attempted to skim the details she would stop me in my tracks and back me right up. “What did you have for dinner”, “Now, what made you decide to fix that”, “Where did you get that recipe”? Not one detail of my evening from beginning to end was I allowed to skip over… NOT ONE!!! When we finished with my evening (from beginning to end) we would then start on her evening (from beginning to end). It’s actually quiet amazing that we got any work whatsoever accomplished. On Monday morning the routine was the same but I had to start with Friday evening and describe every event and activity in detail through Sunday evening. After working together for several years I quit my job when I became pregnant with my 3rd and last child. I will never forget the day I told Charlotte I was leaving. She sat facing me, tears rolling down her cheeks and said… “Jaquetta, what will I do without you?” To this day I get teary eyed when I think back on how sad she was that we wouldn’t get to share every single part of our lives together. I remember telling her that we would make an agreement right then and there that our relationship would always be a priority with both of us. I wasn’t leaving town, I just wouldn’t be sitting beside her for 8 hours every day…. It sounded so simple. I had my baby and a couple of years later she began her family and before I knew it time had flown by. Did we keep in touch? Yes, we most certainly have. Do we still share every little detail of our lives? No, sadly we don’t. When Charlotte started her family and I took a very stressful job we suddenly found that it became more and more difficult to find time for an uninterrupted phone call much less the time to share details, exchange recipes and go shopping. In spite of that, we have kept in touch and regardless of whether it’s been weeks or months since we have spoken we pick up exactly where we left off. If you are a guy you probably don’t know how rare that is, but in “Girl World” that is huge. Women tend to drift apart easily (IMO) and when they do their imaginations run wild. I won’t go into details but I would say that most women would agree with me (and of course if they don’t that would make them wrong). Last week little Charlotte turned 41!!!! For the last several years I have always given her a Bible for her birthday. This year I gave her a different kind of Bible, the paperback version of “How Not To Look Old”. She was tickled pink after she found out that I had read it from cover to cover taking notes and passing the book on to all of my girl friends. I’m hoping her teenage daughter will appreciate the fact that I am trying to keep her Mom cool for her. Our lives may be on different paths now, our kids on different levels, but our hearts have always remained tied together with cords of love that cannot be broken by trial or time. That in my book, is the very description of Best Friend. I love you high as the sky Charlotte and always will!!!!

Tender Love,

Jaquetta aka JacJac