If we are lucky, we have friends who love us.

If we are really lucky, we have friends who love us and understand us.

If we are the luckiest person we could ever imagine being, we have a friend who loves us, understands us, and can read to the deepest level of our weaknesses and make us see them as strengths.  A soul mate of sorts… a companion for the core of who we are.

I have a friend who could be considered my soul mate.  A person I can call and use little words to relay how I am feeling and get the perfect response back from.  A friend who puts me in my place but helps me keep that place secure and warm as well.  A friend that seems to intuitively understand what I need without even a phone conversation.  And vice versa.

I tell her that she is my window.  That when things seem dark and there is no way for me to get out of that place in my mind that traps me and stifles my ability to conquer the maze that can become my life, I can turn around and see a window.  With sunlight shining in, a gentle breeze flapping the curtains, and birds chirping in competition with 1000 wind chimes.  She is always there, even if I don’t know it.

I love her.

Everyone needs a window.  And if it can’t be your spouse or significant other, I pray it is a lifelong friend.  One who has climbed the mountains with you, swam through the currents with you, and danced on the corner of crazy with you and would do it again in a heartbeat.

My friend and I have had our ups and downs, our u- turns and detours, but we have always ended up at the same place.  Calling on each other when times are good and bad.  Seeking advice that we know will come from a true, deep understanding of how the other one works.  Providing support for the scariest thoughts and a cheering section for the greatest triumphs.

I suppose I could compare what I have with my dear friend to the same type of relationship Oprah is always defending with Gayle.  A relationship people can not see the true level of without adding a sinister twist to make it more of something they can understand.

I have had people ask me if my friend and I are involved…  if our connection is caused by a deeper physical knowledge of one another.  I chuckle with my friend at the continued category we are needed to be place in and move on… with another joke to add to the pile.

Everyone should have a soul mate.  And it does not have to be your spouse.  The person you choose to marry and raise a family with should be a dear friend, but they do not have to be that one person on the planet that gets you so clearly that they might as well be talking about themselves.  They just have to respect you enough to let you be you.

I am so blessed to have someone to lean on.  Someone that has been through it all along side me and I don’t have to tell my stories to.  Someone who calls me out when I am wrong, makes me see the different angle and gives me ideas even I can live with.

I pray everyone has their friend.  The one that they know on even the darkest day will be an open window.

You know who you are girl…  love ya…