Before I continue on with our story and the events after the curve ball, I wanted to just take a few minutes (words) to talk about some special gals who live in Maine.
Before we left Memphis, I ran into an old friend, Shari R, at Target. I never realized it but Shari used to live in Portland. It had been a long time ago but a very special lady still lived there that she knew I would love. She was right!
Its funny how things work out. Shari gave me Linda's number and I told her I would call after I got settled. I tried to call her the week before we found out about the mold but she was out of town. Then with all the business of moving again it was a few weeks and in November before I tried again.
However, in the meantime, Fred got invited to hang out with a guy and went to watch a sports thing...there, he met a man who knew a ton of people we knew from Memphis and Linda! What a small world it is in the kingdom! So, that got my attention and I said, yes, Lord, I'll call her right away.
Linda and I instantly hit it off. She came right over the next day to welcome me and give me a hug (new englanders aren't the huggy types we southerners are)! It was great. Being so fresh in my grief over my mom, she was a nurturing light for me. Because Linda travels quite a bit, we didn't get as much time together as I would have liked, but she was such a godsend, in every sense of the word! Linda has a real heart for young women and devotes her life to them. That is such an inspiration to me and always reminded me of what the Word says...and I hope to be half the woman she is when I grow up. Linda, you are amazing...thank you!
Another special southern gal God sent to me was Lisa. When we visited Eastpointe the first time, Lisa was there to welcome us! She was just as thrilled to see a southerner as I was. Lisa had moved with her three teenagers and husband three years before us. I loved her insight into the relationships there and it was great to hear her input and advice.
The greatest thing was she was true to herself...our Memphis friends will know what this means but she's like those sweet Collierville housewives we all know and love. Lisa is from Little Rock and says "sweet thing" to everything you say...it was so great! She also would come up and give me "Mama Hugs". Lisa is a great lady of faith, too and totally understood me at times when I was really struggling. We only met at the end of April but it was one of those instant things and, like Linda, I hope we are friends forever.
Then there are my two special Maine gals...first is Katie. I mentioned Katie before. She was such a breath of fresh air for me when she showed up that first time! She really was quite different from other Maine ladies, even though she grew up in a small town there. Because we got to spend so much time together, she really became my closest friend. She also saw our family at its worst with Gaige in crisis and was so supportive. She protected us in meetings with difficult people, advocating for Gaige and our family. Even though this was all part of her job, she gave us her heart and it became bigger than just the job.
When that big utility bill came and we decided we should probably just move now, she's the one who did a big pro and con list with me. There were about ten 'pro's' but only 3 cons...the last one on our list, Katie added herself...it was her own name.
But even that, God brought full circle. Two days before we left, Katie found out she was going on a different journey and got a new job...so she was going to be leaving us. Her company had a rule about no contact with a family for two years after services but, since she left and I left, we get to be friends without worrying about keeping it on the DL. Katie, I ALWAYS looked forward to the days you were coming over! I miss our chats and hope we can have one face-to-face soon!
Finally, my faithful friend, Teresa. There is no doubt that Teresa and I will always be friends...no matter how far apart we are because we cultivated our friendship long distance in the first place.
Teresa and I 'met' when Andrew's doc from Boston asked me to lend support to her. Teresa has three kiddo's, but her oldest, like Andrew, had mitochondrial disease. Michaela was at the end of her earthly journey when our doc put us in touch about four years ago. So Teresa and I have a bond that I believe is and always will be, eternal.
Teresa grew up in a small town in Maine and has a wonderful family. Her huge family took us in as an extension and we had a great Christmas eve with them last year. I will miss it this year. They are a loving and eclectic bunch...the kind that make everyone want to be from a big family. Teresa has always been so supportive of our family and we both enjoy sharing our heavenly kids with each other. Teresa and I have a long future together and I believe she might be our first visitor to Mass this month!
There are other special friends from the Longfellow play yard, Misseo Dei church and of course, our sweet gals who lived next door...Rianna, Raelene and Abby...who were such great friends to Bliss, in particular. Kudo's to Joey F who helped move us TWICE! It was great being close to Ben and his family and getting to know Kim! We will always treasure the good times we had in Maine and if you are reading this and live there...we are talking about you!
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