Buddies

They say friends help you move, real friends help you move bodies.  Well, I haven't had the need to call on my friends to help me move bodies, fortunately, but I count myself lucky to have some really good friends.  While my female friends are wonderful, it's my male friends I want to mention here.

Every gal needs male friends, buddies.  I'm not talking about my significant other, he fills a place in my life like no other can.  I'm talking about those other male friends.  I hope you have all experienced having at least one.  I have been blessed with four of them:  Greg, Tom, Kevin and Tim. And for inquiring minds, all of them have helped me move.

I grew up with Greg, he lived up the street.  Our moms taught catechism together.  We knew each other as little kids but it wasn't until high school that we became buddies.  Even though we lost touch for a few years, Greg has always been there for me and he always will.  And even though we live over 500 miles apart, there's phones and visits.  Greg has also brought other wonderful additions to my life, in his wife Rhonda, who is as kindred a spirit as I will ever find, and their daughters Jessica and Allison, who I love to pieces.  I'm sure if I knew Rhonda's sons better, they would be just as simpatico.

I met Tom in junior high school / 9th grade.  He was a sophomore in high school and was the student assistant to our Science Club.  I didn't know it at the time but he was also friends with my brothers Mark and John, being in English class with Mark and in the Rocket Club with John.  Tom hadn't put the three of us together either until John invited him home one day after school.  It went something like this:
Tom:  Oh, you invited Mark over too?
John:  No, he's my brother <grumble, grumble>.
Tom:  Don't tell me, she's your sister?
John:  <grumble, grumble>
I will always be grateful to Tom for taking me to my Junior Prom.  It was our one attempt to see if there could be something more than friendship between us.  We decided not to try for more, we valued our friendship too much.  Tom moved away and I miss him.  He recently contacted me on Facebook, hopefully we'll keep in touch better.

Kevin came in to my life at one of my darkest moments and provided a ray of sunshine.  He was there for me as my marriage crumbled, providing me with moral support, believing in me and my worth as a person, letting me know that I matter, that I would get through it and just being there for a shoulder to cry on.  And I'm sure he went home many times with a soggy shirt.  Kevin flits in and out of my life.  We can go for two or three years with little or no contact and then take up our friendship like it was yesterday.  I am so glad he found such a wonderful woman in Eileen and I wish them many happy years together.

Tim is the newcomer to the list, if ten years can be considered new.  He came as a package deal with his wife Tracy, who is just as marvelous.  Along with Greg and Rhonda and another high school friend, Ruth, Tim and Tracy saw me through my diagnosis of ITP and my first round with Rituxan.  Tim was Don's friend before me and they're still friends, we can share.  Don met Tim's wife Tracy when I was in Sacramento and kept telling me that I should get together with Tracy, he thought we would be friends.  I kept wondering what I would have in common with a former Army gal, a stay at home mom with three kids?  But hey, I'm game.  It was a great decision!  Someday I'll write about my gal friends, including Tracy, but Tim joined the elite group of male buddies.  Yes, we moved away from Sacramento and they stayed but distance doesn't mean much when you're friends.  Tim also has the dubious honor of dealing with me through work also.  He's at the other end of my Duty Officer assignments.

I could tell any of my male friends anything.  And I mean ANYTHING!  They wouldn't bat an eyelash.  It could be the most female secret in the world or some functioning female body part thing.  They'd listen, they'd input and they wouldn't judge.  I think that's the best thing about having good friends.  And when they're male good friends, it adds an interesting dimension to their input.