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.