She was the kind of friend who made you feel safe. The one you instantly felt at home with … whom you could trust with everything your soul had to bare, and wouldn’t judge. This was the friend with whom you could just be quiet for a long time if you needed to, and no questions would be asked. But more likely than not, it would be the friend with whom you laughed long and hard with … over things no one else would get or understand. She willingly put up with your odd cravings and “special” habits … and she dared to be a little wild and crazy with you, even when the rest of the world [or your families!] would look on with raised eyebrows. She’d bake muffins, cook dinner, loan you a book, watch an old favorite movie that you’d shared a fondness for since childhood, sing duets, dance in the rain, linger at bookstores, share a piece of coffee cake, go for a run to get in shape [haha!], paint her toenails, buy you just the right thing for your birthday, and listen to every single wave of dramatic story you might present to her … patiently, and even eagerly wanting to know what happens next.

Through the fashion challenges of nine and ten … through the boy craze of twelve and thirteen … through the insecurities and soul-searching of sixteen and seventeen … through the “college-aged” decisions of nineteen and twenty … through all the weddings, moves, and trips around the world …

… we faced the world together, even though we lived three hundred miles apart. Emails gathered in our inboxes with great and small problems alike … phone calls and texts came at just the right time to encourage one another … and even sometimes if we didn’t hear from each other for a month or so, we knew it was alright. Friends like us, joined at the soul, didn’t have to worry about the friendship falling apart – we knew we’d always be there for each other.

So different … yet so alike. She knows just about everything about me – and somehow loves me in spite of all my quirkiness. 😀 There are just some things that only the two of us can share and understand. Yes, we have many other friends in different areas of life – very close friends, even, who share different things with us not quite shared between the two of us. That’s okay, though … it’s a blessing to be given people like that who round us out in other ways. But when it comes down to it, there will never be anyone like Kels in all the world. She makes the quote so true –

“Friendship is one soul dwelling in two bodies”

– and I have been more blessed than I can say by her accountability, love, encouragement, and fun-loving spirit. The week is never so great as when I see her name pop up in my inbox with yet another traditional email … and our once-a-year visits are cherished more than I can say, since we don’t have the luxury of seeing each other whenever we very well please. We’ve talked and talked of the day when we could live together as roommates … [or the day when we marry brothers and settle down right next to each other! 😀 Oh yes … that’s been planned since we were eleven and thirteen!] but since that might not happen until heaven days, we have to suffice with just our imaginations for now. It’s okay, though. The two of us manage to cram in more memories and adventures in just a few days’ time than many do in several years! I already could fill a book with the things we did as children and teenagers … and memories from Stellar Lane are some of the most precious I own.

Thank the Lord above for giving us friends who don’t let us down … who give us advice that we need to hear … who know the inner struggles of the heart and can empathize … who know so much better than us sometimes, but are still so gracious and loving no matter what [thanks for letting me paint my toenails bright green and pink, Kels!] … who won’t criticize, but always love. Dear friend, I thank God for making us so similar, and bringing us into each others’ lives. You’ve touched my life in ways I can’t even express, and I hope you know how thankful I am for you. Friendships like ours are rare, and I believe it was meant to last for a lifetime … bosom friends … kindred spirits … like Anne and Diana. 🙂 Thank you for sharing life with me. I love you ever so much!