Old Friends

I am having dinner tonight with a girlfriend. Not just any girlfriend but a friend from school. And I don't just mean high school. We became best friends in 2nd grade. Best friends throughout high school and beyond. She was my maid of honour at my wedding.

We are very different, this Dear Friend and I.
She is on her second marriage with a step-child.
I have been married for almost 12 years and have 4 children.
She has a degree. From a college.
I have a Safeway Club card.
She has a career.
I have a minivan.

Both of us are extremely happy with our own lives.

I can remember when my own mother was in her 30's. She had a group of friends and their kids and my brother and I would play while they visited. Over the years, we saw less and less of them.
I always told myself, I would never let that happen to me and my friend.
We'd be BFF.

Of course, things haven't always gone the way I planned. It is months between emails. Even longer between actual visits. Sometimes, it's hard to look at Dear Friend and not see the girl she was. I am sure it's the same for her.

But, I am having dinner with her tonight. And, I just saw her less than a week ago. And currently my inbox is full of emails from her.

How many women can say they are spending time with their BFF they've known for 26 years?