Mom....Best Friends

Mom just arrived from the Philippines earlier this morning and so I decided to call mom and dad's cell phone about half an hour after her plane landed in Vancouver. My timing was perfect. As soon as mom answered the phone, I felt this rush of homesickness (which doesn't happen too often), and the yearning for home and family began to set in once again. Does it make sense to miss someone who lives thousands of miles away from you when they go away on vacation? That's how it was for me. I missed that sense of comfort, knowing that I could pick up the the phone anytime and hear mom's voice on the other side. It was so good to hear her voice today.

As mom shared about her trip to the Philippines, her voice revealed a myriad of emotions, from deep grief to immense joy. Although I was not with her during this trip I could almost see the places and people she visited, and at the same time, I also felt her pain and her joy as she described her experiences. I think it must be that weird, cosmic, connection a child has with their mother stemming from the nine months spent in her womb. Nonetheless, what stood out the most for me was mom's descriptions of her time spent with her two best friends, Naida and Lucy. As a child, I recall mom's many stories involving these two dear women and I was always fascinated with the way they were able to maintain a friendship even with mom ultimately moving into and living in a different continent. Many years ago I was given a glimpse of the dynamics within their friendship when I went to visit the Philippines with my mom. Even then, I felt like an interloper, encroaching on something that almost seemed so sacred, so precious.

I write about this on the eve of my best friend's arrival (we'll call her BFF). Her plane lands tomorrow afternoon and I get to spend about a week with this woman who probably knows me better than anyone else in this world. Together we've laughed, we've fought, and we've cried. We have journeyed together through many milestones and experiences: from college graduations to break-ups, to bad hair cuts, to her wedding, and to my eventual move to the east coast. Like my mom, I too have been blessed with this kind of friendship - to have grown with someone and to be known so well - having that Jonathan/David, Laverne/Shirley, Sookie/Lorelei, Joey/Dawson, Will/Grace kind of palship.

I truly am blessed.