When She Remembers

I got a text the other day that was short, to the point and rather blunt "Hey I need x's shirt.  Did you find it yet?"  No hello.  No how ya doing?  Just an out of the blue, random thought.  And I laughed.

That's Christine for you.  Is she rude?  No.  Is she unkind?  Not even a little.  I can't really say anything bad about her.  She's just her.  Spontaneous.  Funny.  And a little direct.  It's just her way.  The second a thought pops into her head, out it comes, but not in the socially accepted order of back and forth that most people pay attention to.  Some time ago, this would have bugged me, but as I got to know her, it's a quality I found endearing, rather than off-putting.

Christine is my mirror opposite.  She'll call (or more likely text) and say "Hey want to get together?"  I'll say "Sure, when?" thinking we are planning some future event and she'll surprise me with "I was thinking about 2."  Uhm, what?  2 TODAY???  "Yeah...2 today.  We're having a birthday party today."  My brain overloads and I think "How does someone plan something so fast?" and the answer is, she didn't.  She didn't plan it until the last minute because that's how she works.  This is a challenge for someone who plans a month in advance if I have to have all my people ready and dressed acceptably and clean and all that.  But the thing is, she doesn't care how you arrive, just that you do.  She doesn't care if your socks match, or if the girls hair is neatly placed in bow clips and matching clothes.  Because her focus is on the people themselves, not what condition they arrive in.

She's taught me to laugh at my parenting fails and to admit them to the outside world.  She's the person I can say "I said such and such to hellchild today.." and instead of rewarding my confession with silence, she busts out laughing and exclaims "I TOTALLY KNOW THAT FEELING" with so much emotion and empathy and delight that you can't help but want to tell her *everything* because you know, she will not only listen, she'll understand.  She's got "been there, done that" down to a science. 

She's misunderstood, of course, because in Girl World, that sort of acceptance of NOT accepting yourself is against the rules.  She'll forget important details of your life, and you'll have to remind her a couple times what order your children were born in, but she will remember they like the color purple.  She'll listen to all your woes, but forget the details enough that it's impossible for her to gossip about them.  And she laughs about it. 

Christine takes time to understand, but in the end, it's worth it.  She's a cheerleader, therapist, comedian, mothering expert, tech support, sounding board, and more.  She's inspiration that there is no stage of life that doesn't have it's own share of beginnings and excitement.  In short, she's an amazing person that I'm very blessed to have in my friend porfolio.  You just have to remind her to remember and when she remembers....she's completely worth the effort.

Love ya girl!!