I am a lucky girl.
      I have my life-long platonic soulmate, Timothy, back home in Washington.
      I have my life-partner and husband, Mark, every day at my side.
      And I have my bestie.
      Abbie and I met in December of 2007. She was the supervisor when I – a new temp – came to work at what was then called Technisource (or was it Spherion at the moment?). We were friendly fast, and hung out a few times, but then life intervened, I moved on, and when I moved back to WA a year later… we lost touch.
      …well, we were Facebook friends, but…
      Anyway – when I moved back to PA, I used our friendship to score a job (just kidding – but she and Isaac did give me the hook-up…and interviewed me over the phone while they were on vacation at the beach and I was still in WA).
      It wasn’t an instant thing; switching from sort of acquaintance++ mode to full-on friends, but it didn’t take long after I moved back for us to start hanging out.
      And then she started gaming with us.
      And now its more than two years later (or close to two years?) and except for a few weekends over the winter when real life (and weather) interfered, and a couple when she was in a relationship and wanted to spend time with him, we’ve hung out pretty much every weekend since.
      I love her.
      Sometimes I feel like I talk too much. But she’s a good listener, fulfilling the role for me that I so often play for other people.
      Sometimes I feel like I am bugging her by constantly sending ‘Good morning!’ messages when she logs-in at work; though she’s never told me to stop so God knows I won’t. Hah!
      Sometimes I feel bummed that it took me thirty-odd years to meet my best girlfriend. But I am glad I met her at all – the stars aligned and the Heavens opened up and God said, “Yo Nubby! Here’s a fellow funny fat bitch to be friends with. Don’t fuck this up.”
      Just kidding. God wouldn’t swear at me. But you get the gist.
      Today (well, a few days ago, but the time this is published), we were talking about the sexual assault my beloved Meghan Tonjes opened up about and I admitted to her something that I had never admitted to anyone else. Something that I hadn’t even talked to Mark about – in the full context – because until a year or so ago I never realized the magnitude of it and how much it had affected me and how I interacted with people for years after all.
      I know I can trust her to keep my confidence; I know I can trust her to laugh with me about it, too.
      We can sit side-by-side at the gaming table and fist bump or make dirty comments about the female NPCs our male PCs boinked – or the time they eiffle-towered Cutthroat Grok to score some loot from the Quartermistress.
      We can laugh until we cry.
      We can sit in silence just hanging-out and it isn’t weird or awkward.
      She’s awesome and I’m grateful for her.
      …even if she did tell me my Mom pays her to be my friend! That bitch.
      <3
Note: Image is “T-Rex Arms” by Abbie (using my Selfie-Stick)