the sweetness of friends

Just a couple of things that I don't want to forget...and I thought I'd use this space to record them.

Caroline went on her first play date yesterday.  As the youngest of three kids, she has been anticipating this milestone for a while now, and was understandably excited as the day approached.  She and her adorable friend from school had (by Caroline's report) a wonderful time--they enjoyed frozen yogurt at a local spot downtown, then they had lots of fun playing at her "SO cool house," which was resplendent with her "own room!" and her "own dresser!" and her "own music box!"  Clearly the observations of a little person who has only known a life of sharing rooms and dressers and a bed and closets and hand-me-downs, and I'm sure that for Caroline the list of injustices goes on...but I digress.  The whole point of writing this down is to remember that when my husband went to pick Caroline up, her sweet playmate was apparently pretty sad devastated that their time together that day was coming to a close.  More specifically, again per Caroline, she "threw herself down on the floor and cried 'but I don't want Caroline to leave!!'"  The tears continued as Caroline and Daddy left the house and were on the driveway, and her friend watched and wept from the window.  This morning as we walked home from dropping Madison and Joshua at school, I got the full report (I worked late last night and Caroline was already asleep when I returned home), including the fact that when this same little friend comes over to our house for a play date, Caroline is "going to cry when she leaves."

Such love!

The other incident that so warmed my heart was this afternoon when I went to the big kids' school to pick them up and I found one of Madison's friends asking her mom as I walked up, "so can I go to say goodbye to Madison now??"  As her friend scooted over to talk to Madison, her mom shared with me that her daughter looked terribly upset ("like she had failed a test or something") when she arrived to pick her up.  She then learned that her daughter was gravely disappointed over the fact that she and Madison "didn't get to sit next to each other" in the carpool line after school.  So after a few minutes of chatting and catching up (did I mention that these two girls are in the same class, and thus are together all day), we all went our separate ways, her friend wearing the sweetest smile on her little face.

These two encounters were so ordinary and yet so precious.  And not because they showcase how lovely my daughters can be--really.  I, too, love my friends, but it's pretty rare that I cherish our time together so much that I weep when we must leave each other's presence.  I don't often feel that a day is ruined because I've missed a potential encounter with a good friend.  Because we'll always have another opportunity, right?  There's always tomorrow for all that, right?...Right?

May I learn from these open-hearted, wildly-loving, generous gals the priceless value of good friends, and may my girls model that sort of radical love as they grow.


 ² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."  Matthew 18:2-5