She Gets Me

"Some people arrive and

make such a beautiful impact

on your life, you can barely remember

what life was like without them."

- Anna Taylor -

This is a friend appreciation post!

For the first time in far too long, we had dinner with my best friend and her husband tonight. Something so simple, but as this pandemic dragged on month after month, the simple things were what I missed most.

We met in 2006 when she took a teaching position at my school, and the following summer, we taught summer school together - she did Language Arts and I did Math - and if you've ever taught summer school, you know that having an amazing partner is critical for survival! It was during those intense weeks together that I realized that this was someone who would become my lifelong friend.

For several years, there was a chunk of time when I was no longer at the same school, and honestly, I had no plans of returning, but she reached out when a teaching spot in fifth grade unexpectedly opened up. The timing worked out pretty perfectly and the chance to teach alongside her and our other two best friends made it too wonderful of an opportunity to pass up, so I went back. For a few years, we shared neighboring classrooms with a connecting door and she was my lifeline. I ended up taking a year off to care for my mom, but in the spring of that hiatus, she reached out when once again, there was an opening in fifth grade, so I subbed for the remainder of the school, which is when the position of reading specialist became available - the job I have held for the past two years. So in many ways, I owe my last three jobs to her!

C and her husband get along exceptionally well - they can talk for hours while we talk for hours and it is the best! What a gift it is for them to be friends, too! The four of us took a driving trip together in November 2018 and the fact that we weren't sick of each other after spending so much uninterrupted time together speaks to the depth of our friendship!

She moved to a different school this year, so between that and the pandemic, we only saw each other in person a handful of times and at a six-foot distance. So just being able to hang out and hug her tonight was fun and very good for my soul.

This is a person who just gets me. We share a love of pop culture and the royal family, but in the next breath discuss the state of education and serious societal issues. I can literally talk with her about anything!

She is the person I would choose for a sister if I could and I am so grateful to have her in my life!

Happy Tails to you!