Fairy tale frienships...

Believe it or not, my life isn't really a fairy tale. I know. 

Like everyone we Kings have our ups and downs. While we relish the good - sometimes the bad seems to stick around for a while. And when that happens we turn to each other and to our support system and our happily ever after resumes. 

But - parts of my life are a dream come true. 

Like these women.

Kerri, Jenni, my Momma, Dee, Me, and Chrissy

I met Jenni in kindergarten but we became besties in the first grade. We were both in Mrs. Sadler's class (seriously the best teacher ever) and pretty much from that year on, we were inseparable. We took cheerleading and dance together. We had sleepovers. We shared secrets. We played dress up. We lived life in pure bliss. Some people I meet are shocked to hear that I have been friends with someone for close to 30 years, but I can't imagine my life without Jenni.

As time went on our friendship just grew. And soon after, our Moms became best friends, too (because they basically had no other choice). How awesome is that? My best-friend's mom is my mom's best friend.  They are basically Laverne and Shirley, Cagney and Lacey, and Clairee and Weezer - all wrapped in one. 

I love their friendship. They take care of each other, make each other laugh. Love like sisters and fight like them too. They have celebrated each other through the good and supported each other through the tough. Dee introduced me to the wonderful world of REAL mayonnaise (yum!), fried bologna (yum!), and chocolate gravy (still debating!). She made me eat a half sandwich at a time so I wouldn't waste food. She punished me like her own daughter and loves me like one, too. And mom does the same for the "Tuley girls". We are each other's people. 

The times in my life when I have laughed the hardest have been with them. And when I have needed to shed some major tears, they have been there to wipe them away. They have loved me, supported me, cheered for me, cried with me, challenged me, and every now and then loved me enough to tell me they were disappointed in me. I, too, have offered words of wisdom and advice, support and love. I know every story, every heart ache, and every celebratory moment of their lives. Kerri and Chrissy seem just as much like my little sisters as Jenni's (especially when it comes to spunk and attitude because, well... I'm a fiesty one.) 

(I'd also like to be credited for teaching Kerri the art of basketball because I had some mad skills and passed all that knowledge to her on afternoons that Jenni was at tennis practice.)

And as we get older, sometimes life gets harder. Our moments of support are a little bit bigger than that bad breakup or silly rumor. We talk about things like mortgages and taxes. We pray over our desire for healthy children. And we offer support before it's even been asked. And when life hands us things that we don't like or understand, we have each other. 

Dee was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2004, breast cancer in 2009 & 2011 and has recently been met with some new medical concerns that are out of our control. My heart swells thinking about the poise and grace Jenni has demonstrated as she has become the caretaker, decision maker and rock for "my people." She teaches me every single day to love with freedom, to wait with patience, and to act with faith. I ask for your prayers as they navigate the decisions that are to follow. 

I pray that my kids are given a friendship like ours. That they each have a person that they get to spend their ENTIRE life with - beginning to end, good and bad, happy and sad, easy and hard. I so badly want them to have a constant reminder of honesty and goodness and integrity and love. 

Because that is what I was gifted. For some reason, I was blessed with this one tiny fairy tale friendship that I cherish in big and small ways. 

Always.