Monday, June 4, 2007

ANGELS #7 - FOREVER FRIEND

This is the 7th in my posts about my Angel collection. The above Angels were given to me by my forever friend, Joan. This pretty much depicts us with our wild hair and style and our star declaring "Best Friends"

Joan & I met in the second grade. I was 6 years old and she was 7. Her BD is December 7th and mine is December 25th so I never could catch up with her....not even for a few days!! I hated it when she turned 13 before me, 21 before me. But now, I get to rub it in to her as she turned 50 before me, 65 before me and now 70 before me!!




Here we are with our beloved friend Alonzo, who I wrote about in my 100th Post. You can just see from this picture that we had a great time together. I'm the blond and Joan the brunette.

Here is a picture of us during our teen age years at a playground near my home in Santa Fe, NM where we both grew up and spend our entire childhoods.




Joan and I could have not been more different.




She was one of 6 children and I was being raised almost like an only child since my sister was 12 years older than me and left home when I was 6.

She was being raised by a hard working single mom because the father had abandoned her and his 6 children. I was being raised by a mother & father with a father who doted on me.

Joan and I did almost everything together. I've listed some of our adventures in my 100th post.
We were both good students, making good grades. We had the same friends. We spent a lot of time at each other's houses. She would stay over at my house a lot but I loved going to her house and sharing her twin size bed and taking a bath in the big galvanized wash tub sat in the middle of the kitchen. Even though her mom struggled there was always an extra bowl of beans or whatever for me to eat, too.

Joan eloped when she was 17 with a "flyboy" (air force) from Ohio who was stationed in Albuquerque. I was already married the same year to my high school sweetheart at 16. Joan hosted my baby shower when I was expecting. She was always there for me. Her first child, a son, is just 9 months younger than my oldest daughter and 3 months younger than my second daughter. She had a total of 3 children, 2 boys and her youngest a girl, and I had my 4, 2 older girls and 2 younger boys.

Joan and her husband moved to Ohio for a short time but then returned to Albuquerque. Except for that brief time in Ohio she has lived in Santa Fe and Albuquerque her entire life. I left New Mexico at age 21 and have lived most of my adult life in Tulsa.

From our childhood Joan always wanted to be a nurse. There are many things I admire about this forever friend of mine. One of the main things is she held on to her dream of being a nurse and after her youngest child was in school she enrolled at the University of NM. She not only got her nursing degree but graduated with honors!! Later, in the 1980's, after her husband of almost 30 years left her, she went back to the University and got her MA in counseling.

Joan has overcome many obstacles and come out on top every time. She remarried in the early 1990's and she and Jim (who had never been married) are enjoying a wonderful life together.

Even though we have been separated by many miles, for many years we have managed to keep our friendship vibrant. I made annual trips back to NM to visit both my parents and her for years. Later, after my mother moved to Tulsa my youngest son and I went to Albuquerque on many Spring Breaks and then we would attend the International Balloon Fiesta each October .


Here is a picture, taken at our home in Tulsa, where we are acting our usual silly selves!!














Here are Joan & I in my back yard at Tulsa. This shot was taken 11 years ago in 1996.








This is the last time we were together, in 2004, when they flew out for a few days and then we drove to Branson, MO for a grand few days going to all the shows and taking this boat ride.







None of us know what the future holds.....but one thing I know for sure.....I treasure my friendship of 63 years with my dear and precious forever friend and we will always be Forever Friends!!!
I love you Joan. Thank you for not only being my Forever Friend but my Sister of the Heart.

32 comments:

Pen of Jen said...

Oh I am crying. Joan is an amazing person who picks her friends very well.
I love all the photos, all the similarities and connections/closeness that you have had over the years. How very blessed you both are to have eachother!
I love knowing so much more about dear Joan!
Thanks for showing us all the friends can be forever friends!
Love another New Mexico Friend
Jennifer

Alycia said...

Wow, what a heartfelt post. My heart is just swelling with love for you and your friend, Joan. It is such a blessing to have a friend like this, whom you grew up with and can share life's journey with. I enjoyed reading about you and your friend and all of the wonderful photos :) Have a blessed day!

Momma Roar said...

What a special tribute to your sweet friend Joan! How blessed you were to have one another for all these years! I love the angels and their wild hair! I also love all the pictures - even caught sight of a hot air balloon poster on the wall behind!
A very sweet post Susan! You are such a wonderful friend!
Love,
Leigh Ann

Kimmy said...

What a great tribute to your friend! ~ Kim

Anonymous said...

I love that you post about past things like that...
My mom is 62 now, and she has a friend her age who were friends since age 8. They have grown apart very much, mainly because my mom says she talks about money too much! Good for you for staying friends so long. It must be hard.

Saija said...

yup got me teary too ... i guess because i too have some "forever" friends ... and what is wonderful is that they will be with me "forever in glory" as well!

blessings on ya!

... said...

what a wonderful and special friendship. i can't even imagine having a friend for that long. it's quite amazing that you have kept it going. so many treasured memories the two of you must have.

thank you for sharing this. it's a beautiful picture of what a friendship can be.

btw, i especially love the picture of you two as teenagers. you both look so carefree, knowing that you have your whole lives ahead of you.

Myrna said...

You certainly have some wonderful memories with your Forever Friend. I'm sure you have been continual blessings to each other along the way.

Tammy said...

Oh wow...this story of your life-long friendship put a lump in my throat. What an absolute treasure for both of you to have! Your friendship has not only survived all of these decades, but has thrived! Truly amazing and beautiful!
I loved all the photos...and that very first one, as children, says it all!
Now, I'm going to go back and read your 100th post...
Blessings!

Susie said...

A special long lasting friendship like this is truly a gift from God. How fortunate you both are to have each other!
Beautiful heartwarming post!!!

inspired said...

Real friends are like precious pearls : was found they are to be treasured forevermore...inspired07...

Ruth said...

How awesome to have such a lifelong friend! It is wonderful that the 2 of you have stayed together in the heart for so long.

Jill said...

How great to read about your friend of so many years. Even the miles didn't break your friendship. You are both amazing.

P.S. - I signed your guest book!

Jen said...

That was so sweet!

Linds said...

How lucky you boht are to have each other. I have a friend like thta too, but that is worthy of a post of its own!

Maxine said...

Susan, This was so precious! I enjoyed every minute of reading it. How wonderful to have a friend like this--a friendship of more than sixty years! This is a rare treasure indeed.
And I Love your angels--they are precious, just like the friendship.
This post was a real blessing.

Just Mom said...

You and Joan are so fortunate that you were able to keep your friendship alive all these years. What a wild bunch you all make. I could almost hear the laughter from the two of you as I looked at your photos.

By the way ... nice legs. ;-D

Rita Loca said...

What a blessing to have a friend for life!

Frazzled Farm Wife said...

She sounds like an amazing friend. I love the silly picture of you all! May you have many more years of friendship!

someone else said...

Oh what a precious post. These kinds of friendships are rare and such a gift!

Anonymous said...

I love it! I have a friend from birth. We will turn 50 in a couple of years and she's planning a trip to NYC for us and a few other friends we grew up with. Our mothers were best friends as well. I hope the Lord allows us many more years of friendship. She still lives right here in the same city raising her kids just like me. What a special gift you have been given in your forever friend.

Carole Burant said...

Oh Susan, such a beautiful tribute to a cherished childhood friend! Not many of us can say we have a friend like that so you and Joan are certainly very lucky to have had such a wonderful relationship all these years. xox

Unknown said...

You guys truly define friendship. That is very cool. Very.

Susan said...

What a TREASURE!! I love it that your friendship has endured time and separation. Beautiful, Susan...just beautiful.

:-) Susan

Kelli said...

Thank you so much for sharing your forever friend, Joan with us!! The photos are wonderful and I enjoyed reading about your special memories!! May you have many more together!
Hugs,
Kelli

Lori said...

I love your angels again.

That is great to have a long time friend like that.
Thanks for sharing with us.

Janice said...

I loved reading this and hung on to every word! What a special friendship and sisterhood you have with Joan! I love the little angels too. Wonderful post! :o)
Blessings!

Unknown said...

Thanks for taking us down memory lane with you! What a wonderful thing to have a lifetime friend. We moved around so much that I really don't have a childhood friend with whom I am in contact. That makes me very sad!

I'm so glad you all have great memories to share.

Heather K said...

ooh what a sweet friendship.... that has stood the test of time! I have a friend I've known since we were 5 yrs old... but unfortunately we have grown apart and have both married and lost touch... this makes we want to find her and make contact again...

marallyn ben moshe said...

what a gorgeous post...sounds like my friend donna and me...we met when i was six months old and she was an old lady of one year...now almost 63 years later we are still sisters-in-love and love each other...she is in the states and i'm in jerusalem but we are only an email or phone call away...lovely lovely post...thanks

lorenzothellama said...

What a wonderful friendship. You are indeed blessed. I too have friends from way back and still keep in touch.

Anonymous said...

Susan,

I never saw this post before and what a wonderful story of an enduring love between friends. It was so touching to see the years between you represented in photos. Would you have ever imagined you would see her at 70?! :)