A Surprise Worth the Drive

About a month ago my best friend's husband called telling me that he had won a trip to South Carolina with his company. I have been friends with them since '98 when we met in Puerto Rico while both our hubby's were in the Navy. We were both working at the Navy Relief Society and our love for talking turned into a great friendship. She had two girls that were the same ages as Anthonne and Aly and they all became instant friends too. We went everywhere together, the beach, the mall, the clubs. Our families were inseperable. So when it was time to leave PR we decided that Washington would be the best place to go, being that Sherry and Marty are from there. The next 3 1/2 years were wonderful. We felt like we had family there. Unfortunately the good times had to come to an end and we had to move across the country in 2003. It's been 2 years since we've seen them and when Marty made that call there was nothing that was going to stop me from seeing them! Thankfully Lamont was ablt to take leave and I drove 6 1/2 hours to South Carolina and surprised her.

I drove into downtown Charleston where Marty and Sherry were walking around. I parked my car in front of the visitor's center and Marty convinced Sherry to walk over there saying they were meeting some friends for a drink. As I was walking away from my car, Sherry spotted me. She said to Marty, "Hey that girl over there looks just like Lissa," Marty said, "Yea a little, but not really." So they continued to walk away, but I panicked! I hid behind someone elses car until I didn't see them anymore. Marty called my cell phone pretending to call his friends and asked where I was. I told him, "Hiding behind a car!" So he told me to go ahead and meet them in front of the visitor's center. As I approached them, Sherry points and tells Marty, "Look there's that girl I was telling you about that looks just like Lissa." All I heard was my name so I started nodding my head. It took her a few more minutes and then she realized that it was me. She came running towards me and we both hugged and cried! It was a wonderful moment. It didn't even feel like 2 years had gone by.

So for the next two days we just relaxed and enjoyed eachothers company. We lounged by the pool and drank all day on Wednesday and then on Thursday we had to say our goodbyes! I took them to the airport and with sadness said one last goodbye. I know it may sound dramatic, but it was really sad. It had been 2 years since we last saw eachother and now after 2 days we were going our separate ways again. When you have a friend that you can feel completely comfortable with, it's hard to see them walk away. We both live such busy lives that we often don't get the time to reconnect with one another. You have to hold on to those friendships that really mean something to you. Being a military family we see friends come and go, but it's the special ones that you don't let go.

*Kisses*