HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEESIE!

Tomorrow is L's birthday--her 40th birthday. I can hardly believe that this much time has passed since we first met. Have I ever told anyone that story? About how I met L? No, you say. Well, it's high time I did. Settle in, get comfortable, get a cool drink and a snack, and enjoy.

It was 1988. I was in graduate school, working towards getting my MA in speech pathology, still living at home, about 7 months post my father's passing. At the time, I had several pen pals from across the US, including one from NC. One day I got a letter from a new person. She told me she'd gotten a letter from this same girl in NC, who was prone to reusing envelopes she'd received letters in from other people. This new writer said our mutual friend had sent her a letter in one of my old envelopes. NC girl's address label had come off, and my address showed instead. New Writer saw that I lived in Knoxville, but didn't know anything about me other than that. Since she lived only about 2 hours away, she thought she'd write to me and see if I might like to start exchanging letters.

After reading her letter, I decided to write back. I told her my name--of course--and some details about myself. I said that it would be great to start writing to each other because we had quite a lot in common.

We exchanged letters for the longest time before we decided to talk on the phone. By that time, it was 1989, and I had moved across the state to take a job that would enable me to be certified as a therapist. I didn't know anyone there, the town was pretty small and completely different in every way I knew. One evening I got a phone call, turns out it was L! We talked for about an hour, maybe longer. We found out we had more things in common than we originally thought. We made promises to talk again, and hung up.

That was the first of many, many, many phone calls, most of which became five- or six-hour marathons. And I don't think there was ever a lull in any of our conversations.

First time we met face-to-face was in 1989. We went to a now-defunct tap house that showed movies on the weekends and hung out for a few hours. Immediately we knew we clicked, and were thrilled to meet someone else who was "just like me!" (Yeah, I know, sounds goofy, but hey, we were young and stupid.)

In 1990, I moved to Chattanooga for a better job, and L came to visit one weekend. She liked it there, too, and eventually got a job that brought her to Chattanooga. She got an apartment about a mile or two from mine, so we hung out together all the time.

And that, my friends, was the beginning of the Punks as you know us today.

We've gone through a lot of changes over the years. We've had some horrible times--but we've had some fantabulous times, too. We made this friendship what it is by learning each other. The most important lessons we've learned are that you respect the other person; you try to support the other as best you can; you do not give up on them if you believe they can be saved; and you love them. No matter what else you believe, no matter what else is happening.

L and I have been best friends for 20 years. And we'll be best friends until we die. Nothing is going to separate us or change the way we feel about each other.

I don't know what I'd do without her. She is a special gift in my life, priceless and beautiful.

And believe me, if anyone tries to hurt her, in any way, you will definitely have to deal with me.

I love you, L! *hugs and kisses*

Jen-Jen