A COVID friendship sounds like a sappy Hallmark movie, doesn’t it?
There’s not much about the year 2020 that I have enjoyed. There has been a lot to endure, but not too much that stood out as positive.
Masks are hot, arrows are confusing, and I don’t like to be socially distant.
But, I thought I’d tell you a really awesome thing that happened to me during this lockdown.
I found a best friend.
Well, I knew her a year before, but I guess we cultivated the friendship during COVID-19.
As we have all experienced, we were pretty isolated, especially for a few months after March. My immediate family and most of my close friends live quite a distance away.
So when we were literally told to pick a bubble and stay in it, that left my friend and I happily stuck with each other.
I imagine you have also noticed that this “new normal” may have caused you to reach out more to people. You may have made more phone calls, sent more notes, shared more pictures, and found ways to connect.
That’s what we did, too.
There were “stop, drop and rolls,” as we called them, where one or the other dropped off coffee, lunch, flowers or gifts at the other’s doorstep. We would wave through the window. We probably did that a couple of times a week and it was a huge day brightener.
I’m guessing you found you were having deeper conversations with your friends, too. Not weather, food or even politics, but the stuff that matters: family, dreams, heartbreak.
At least, that’s what happened with us and we began to see how much we had in common.
As COVID rules eased a bit, we did socially distanced home visits and the bond grew.
I won her collie over with Timbits. (I know, not good for dogs, but it worked to keep him from eating my arm.)
She went with me to adopt Amos the cat the day before the lockdown began. Sometimes you need a friend to say, “C’mon, let’s go meet this cat," even when you aren’t sure you are ready to take the plunge.
Usually, most people make a best friend in school or at a job or in a community group and it usually doesn’t come along quite so late in life. Maybe it just takes two middle-aged, menopausal, slightly eccentric gals to see the importance of true understanding. A soul connection.
As with most good things comes the proverbial fly in the ointment.
Family needs require her to move out of the province.
With her permission, here’s is an excerpt of a letter I wrote to Anne:
“Barring Sunday cottage-country traffic and stops for Merlin’s Timbits, it is eight minutes from my door to yours.
Eight minutes to get to complete and utter approval.
Eight minutes to guaranteed fun and relaxation.
Eight minutes to a feeling of comfort and safety where I can kick off my shoes, climb up on the couch and be totally myself.
Eight minutes to my best friend.
No doubt, we managed to help each other survive Lockdown 2020, but I think it was far more than that.
I can tell you anything and do. I can show up completely as I am and in whatever condition I may be in and you make me feel accepted and appreciated.
We can do a million somethings or absolutely nothing and still have a good time. The day we both said, 'We should have a nap!' was the moment I knew we were solid. We never managed to have one, but the fact we could if we wanted was the important part.
Here we are now, with two years of friendship under our belts, including a lot of bacon, fish and chips, slushies, coffees, road trips, Netflix, and way too many diamond art projects.
As I write this, I have that horrible lump in my throat and tears streaming down my face. It quite simply HURTS.
I want to continue driving on closed roads. I want to get yelled at by the angry fast-food kid. I want to keep laughing so hard I can’t see to drive. I want to complain that my coffee is not the correct colour and be understood. I want to gush over Elvis and not be questioned.
They say you meet people for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
I believe it can be all three.
Between hello and goodbye — just know there is so much love."
