Top 10 reasons why Sheryl will always be my friend

July 2004.  

I began my job as a Hospice Social Worker on the yellow team.  The yellow team bereavement counselor was Sheryl.  So begins an unlikely friendship...

July 2014.

Sheryl and I no longer work for Hospice.  But the unlikely friendship continues...  

Top 10 reasons why Sheryl will always be my friend:

10 - She taught me that sometimes you just need to breathe.

9 - She continues to plan group social events and always invites me but accepts the fact that I will likely never show up.

8 - She doesn't laugh at my short choppy hair cut or my one pair of shoes even though she has great hair and a closet just for shoes.

7 - When we worked in the Bereavement Center at Hospice the Center was renamed "Sheryl's house of grief and fashion".  She laughed!!!

6 - She takes lots of pictures of her feet.

5 - She thought about me while in Vegas and took a picture of "TCB" door openers in honor of TC (my deceased husband a former Elvis impersonator).

4 - She allows her cat to reign over her home.

3 - She knows what it means to have loved and lost - people as well as dreams.

2 - She has a month (July) that is all about her and is not ashamed to remind me!  (it's her birthday today: July 23)

1 - She brought and continues to bring hope to me when life seems almost too much to handle.  (such as helping me survive following the deaths of my daughter, mother, husband in the space of 18 months)  

Sheryl has played and continues to play an important role in my life in spite of our obvious differences:  She is over 20 years younger than me; she lives in a new home and it is spotless; she has a car that is smarter than she is; she carefully watches her diet (eating gluten free as well as drinking those crazy green smoothies); she follows a schedule; she has a routine; etc. etc. etc.  Oh, and did I say she is focused???  She is always supportive and positive when it comes to my hopes and dreams even if she really doesn't understand them.  She doesn't care that we don't worship at the same place and in the same way - we both believe in God and the importance of faith.  
I think that our friendship is reciprocal - and isn't that what we all want in our lives?  She calls me in distress:  I call her in distress.  We text, we message, we e-mail, we talk.... and possibly best of all we laugh.  It doesn't matter what the topic, no matter how sad or upset or angry we feel, we always find something to laugh about!  When we were both doing grief counseling those outside our offices would hear us laughing with our clients and wonder if we were really counseling or just goofing off.  Laughter... love... liking each other... living through the rough and good times together...