My People Part 1

I have been blessed with friendships. Childhood friends, college friends, grad school friends, Navy friends.

I have spent my life surrounded by big groups of loud, funny people. 

My Norfolk friends are like that. Loud and funny. My favorite kind. 

The beautiful thing about making friends in your 30s is that you are finally old enough/comfortable enough/maybe just too tired (because kids) and you stop caring about your favorite kind and what group you are in and who you should be and you start to see hearts and minds and true selves and you get to be who you want to be.

My Norfolk friends include some introverts. They are not loud. But they are oh-so-funny. And they let me be loud. They are real and thoughtful and smart and relaxing. I regret that my blow-in-like-a-hurricane personality has missed out on friendships in the past with some amazing people because they were a whisper-in-the-wind. 

My Norfolk friends taught me to stop and listen and notice.

My Norfolk friends include some extroverts, too. They are loud. Very loud. We talk over each other to the point of yelling, one-up stories, and laugh until our faces hurt. We overshare and our introvert friends shake their heads. We laugh and eat and sometimes cry. 

Ok, that last one is mostly me...

My Norfolk friends taught me to be real and honest and stop competing because none of us are better or worse.  We are all -ALL- loved fully by our Creator and we can't do anything to change it.

My Norfolk friends prayed for us as we decided if the timing for our adoption was now, they were among the first people we told when the decision was made, and they have supported us every step of the way. 

My Norfolk friends have critiqued me, encouraged me, made me search my heart for what is meaningful and lifted me to a place of comfort and peace. They are so, so good.

My heart aches as I leave them and my throat gets tight and my eyes fill with tears. I have had them for only 18 months but their impact is lifelong. 

These are my people. 

I love you so very much, friends.