There are some friends who bring out
the best in us. I've been blessed to have more than one although it
took Carri's passing plus almost three years to open my eyes and see
them. One of those friends is 34 and expecting her first child and
over a week ago she made me laugh so hard that I doubled over. I
haven't laughed like that in years and didn't think I ever really
would again. It was that deep down in my belly, side-splitting “only
we would find this funny” kind of laughter. I truly felt Carri
watching from above, smiling and nodding her head in approval at my
reaction to the gastronomical shenannigans going on in a Walmart
bathroom. (One of Carri's favorite websites was dedicated to the
customers of Walmart-I don't remember what it was but boy, did she
use it for a good laugh herself.)
Over a week ago my friend, Triena, and
I went out for a hearty Saturday morning breakfast and some shopping.
(See, I can do the shopping thing, happily, as long as it's a home
improvement/D.I.Y. Kind of store, greenhouse/nursery or craft store.
For clothes I still go shopping in Triena's walk-in closets.) We
settled for IHOP for breakfast and Lowes to look for some discounted
flower bulbs and then one brief stop at Wally World for some orange
juice and a few other necessities.
After popping our bellies full of some
of IHOP's finest cuisine and countless people coming up to Triena to
say “Hi!” or “Congratulations!” (I swear, she knows the whole
town. No joke.) a realization hit me. My inner grown up who is
forever telling me to “Grow up!” was shouting in my ear “See!
You're not as alone as you thought. Stop feeling sorry for yourself
over what you've lost and be thankful for what you have.” I saw how
many friends she had at just that one packed restaurant and I was
humbled and so thankful that even at this season of her life she
still would drop everything if I called to say I needed to talk.
It's true. After my special little boy
came along all of my friends without children dropped me like a hot
potato EXCEPT Triena. She stayed on, patiently waiting for me to be
the good friend I used to be when we were single and roommates
together. When Carri got sick, Triena let me cry over the phone and
admit all the fear I had about the frighteningly possible
outcome-something I couldn't talk to Carri about. Besides Carri, my
friendship with Triena has lasted the longest and NOT because I put
in the effort. That was all Triena with her heart of gold and
infectious sense of humor. This is a woman who knows I haven't
always been a morning person. She endured my moods, my drama and my
constant bathroom issues in our little one BR apartment. Picture it:
Christmas 1997. My funny roommate wakes me up to give me my Christmas
present- a pair of “Grinch” slippers with a box of Immodium
stuffed in one and a pack of Camels in the other. (Yes, I used to
smoke.)
We were reminiscing about that time in
our lives just the other day as we were talking about our current
financial situations. She said “Hey remember that apartment? We
split a $350 rent, a small utility bill, had no car payments and
still, we were always broke!” But we always had nice clothes.
(That employee discount was too good of an incentive to pass up on
the clothes and the checks that came out of working at Sears usually
went right back into Sears.)
Back from Memory Lane...
We finished eating and headed to Lowes
to digest our mega-breakfast and look for the bulbs but left with
gigantic poinsettias (we're easily distracted by a good sale).
Then it was off to Walmart where the
real fun started happening.
Being pregnant, Triena had a need to
use the restroom pretty much at every stop and that big breakfast was
doing a real number on her. Off to the pristine Walmart potty room we
went.
She settled on Door Number 4 and handed
me her purse. The door was barely latched shut when the toilet
flushed and startled us both.
“Wow, that was fast!” I laughed.
“I know! Haven't even dropped my
drawers!”
And just as she said that, the toilet
flushed again.
“Man, I haven't even sat down yet!”
Another flush.
“I think you picked the toilet with
OCD!” I giggled again.
Tinkle. Tinkle. Tin---FLUSH!
“Darn it!! I'm not done yet!”
Whoosh!
“What the heck? It's trying to suck
me in!”
“Feed Meeeeeee, Seymour!” I
bellowed out over the flushing din.
By this point the situation had gotten
so absurd it was like a cartoon playing in my head and I lost it
picturing the toilet as a giant man- eating Venus Flytrap trying to
take my friend out.
Another flush in response to our
laughter.
I steadied myself on the sink and tried
to figure out who the whack-job blonde in the mirror was. She looked
like a lunatic. Cheeks beet red, hair frizzing in all directions,
eyes...hmm...dare I say, sparkling? I saw all that in just a fraction
of a second (which is all the potty needed to flush again,
apparently) and laughed inwardly at myself for finding such a
situation beyond amusing.
Then, suddenly, silence... except for
our laughter.
“Okay, I'm done. You can flush now.”
said Triena to her toilet.
Silence.
“Seriously, I'm done. I'm standing up
and you're not going to do your job? Now?” she tried provoking it
to no avail.
“Alright, I'm leaving now.” she
told Mr. Suddenly Silent
She unlatched the door and took two
steps out toward the sinks.
With a seemingly indignant reply we got
one more last
FLUSH!!! Gurgle, Gurgle, Gurgle.
I almost fell down that time.
We were in hysterics by the time we
emerged from the bathroom, a silly new memory made and one that won't
soon be forgotten which is really good for both of us because in a
very short time, Triena's moving out of state.
I'm excited for her to go and selfishly
sorry she has to go but I promise, every time I hear a toilet flush I
will smile. (I know, talk about a poetic sentiment, right?)
May God Bless and Keep you and baby
Benjamin always in His hands, Triena. Thank you for your patience,
kindness and generosity over the years. I'm writing this down for you
and the world to see now because another friend taught me that it can
all be over far too soon and that I need to express how I feel when I
feel it and right now, I feel Thankful and Blessed to know you.
