The FDA recommends that everyone consume a daily serving of nuts. Okay, so, I love cashews and pecans, and walnuts. Not so fond of almonds and some of the others. Too hard to chew! But those incredible tree hugging treats all have magnificent qualities and miraculous goodies for our bodies. God is so good! There is no end to the wonderful stuff He put on this Earth to make us happy and healthy. So, you can choose from a variety of nuts and each one has its own special "goodie" for us. For example, a one ounce serving of almonds is loaded with Vitamin E which is a natural antioxidant that helps heart disease, and almonds also are high in magnesium. Cool! Brazil nuts are great for your metabolism and energy. Cashews are loaded with minerals, and macadamias, bless their hearts, have the highest level of cholesterol lowering unsaturated fats. Peanuts are not really a nut, but they are a good source of several different vitamins, minerals and proteins. So, sometimes when you feel like a nut. grab a handful and make yourself a little healthier.
Now, if you've been reading my blogs for awhile, you have figured out that I always have a hidden meaning in my titles and first paragraphs. That hasn't changed with this one. No, this is not just a science lesson, it's a tribute to the "nuts" in my life, my two dearest friends. I won't name them, but they know who they are.
I get really wrapped up in my work when I design a wedding or a centerpiece for an event, and I tend to take myself too seriously. That's where these two "nuts" come in and remind me of just how human I am.
I've always tried to explain to my children the difference between a true friend and an acquaintance. Trust me, on the surface, they may seem one and the same, but on the inside is where it counts. My daughter has a sign in her home office that reads "A Friend Is Someone Who Will Bail You out of Jail, but Your Best Friend Is the One Sitting next to you Saying 'That Was Awesome!'" I am truly blessed with two really awesome nutty friends.
When these two ladies get together, there is no telling what is going to happen. A job that takes an hour, usually ends up taking 3 or 4, because half of the time, they are doubled over in complete and total hysteria, laughing at each other and taunting me. I love them to pieces and couldn't get along without either of them, which is what brings me to this next part of the story.
Nine plus years ago, I had another really good friend. We grew distant for awhile after I moved, but we found each other once again and when she was diagnosed with advanced stages of colon cancer, we lived every moment that we could making memories and laughter and fun for her remaining days. She was the best friend that I had had in my life since my high school days. We made total fools of ourselves, went roller skating with our girls, line danced with all of the kids at the school dance and led their girl scout troop for many, many years.
She always thought I had a direct line to the Man upstairs. One time, she asked me to pray for a miracle. Her estranged brother was out of her life and she simply wanted me to pray for a miracle that they would find each other again. I did, I prayed fervently and then soon after that, she slipped into a coma and the doctors were talking a matter of days. I began to prepare myself mentally for the loss of my dear, dear friend. Until, sitting at work one day, I got a phone call, the voice on the other end was screaming and crying and hysterical. The voice spoke my name and just kept saying, "thank you, thank you, it's a miracle. My brother called and he is coming to see me." It took me a moment before I realized that the voice was that of my dear friend. God had given her the miracle that she wanted and she was reunited with her brother. When I went to the hospital (rather quickly after the phone call), I rejoiced all the way there and gave God all of the thanks and glory for the answered prayer and the miracle of her waking up and hanging in there for a little while longer. As we sat and talked at her bedside, she told me of 4 angels that came to her while she slept and each one stood at a corner of her bed and kept her safe. Pretty powerful stuff. We laughed and cried and prayed. And that was the day that I figured out that God always answers prayers, but sometimes the answer is what we want and sometimes it isn't. She rallied a little over that summer and we did some crazy things. That Easter, we even went and had our pictures taken with the Easter Bunny at the mall.
That was to be our last summer. In and out of the hospital, she was always amazed that I could track her down, whether it was at her doctor's office or the emergency room, and in her final days, I visited her as often as I could and sat at her bedside and talked to her and God and just asked that her final journey be filled with peace.
She died the day after Thanksgiving that year. I had gone out of town with family, and there was nothing that could have been done had I stayed. I had already bid her goodbye and thanked God for every day that I had with my best friend.
It was a long, long time before I allowed myself to really get super close to another friend. I had friends, but I wanted that kind of no holds barred, be totally silly and off the wall friendship that helps hold you together.
And then one day, it just happened. Two entirely different situations and that is when these two crazy, uninhibited ladies walked into my life, and things haven't been calm since. One of them has "noisy" attached to her name at the beginning. We all tell each other and everyone that we were separated at birth, 3 different mothers mind you, but we were and are, clones of each other in so many ways.
We can turn a floral session for a wedding into a stand up comedy routine. There are not enough groans to deal with the bad puns and comical insults. These are the two nuts in my life, my two dear, dear friends, and I don't know what I would do without them.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't, but there is not a day in our lives that we don't communicate in some way, whether it is text, telephone or live and in person. Our husbands just look at us and shake their heads. Sometimes I think that they truly believe we've all lost it, and sometimes, I might just agree with them!
Sometimes you feel like a nut! Yes, I do and I have my nutty buddies to prove it!
Thanking God everyday for answered prayers and the miracle of friendships!
Katydid!
