Road Trip!

What could possibly be worth a 10 hour car trip (one way) alone with a baby?
Friendship. But not just any friend. After over 20 years of friendship, I couldn't miss out on Doobie's 40th birthday celebration with her closest friends. So Lulu and I headed for the open road...
She did quite well overall, especially considering the amount of attention she is accustomed to...
Yes, I snapped those pix while driving 75 mph on the interstate. Not the safest choice, but just look how cute she was!

I loved getting to laugh with Deb's friends and family...
And it was so meaningful to hear the hearts of these women...
Deb asked for us to share the answers to these three questions:
1) What used to be important to you that isn't anymore?
2) What is important to you now that never used to be?
3) How has your view of God changed over the past 10 years and how has that developed in your life?
She's not a shallow one, that Deb. It was just like her to have a party in her honor, but want the focus to be on hearing our hearts. Here she is delighting in our answers...
What a delight to be with one of her sisters and her Mom again. They are like family to me...
It blessed my grieving heart to see Shirley giving Lulu some "Grammy love"...
Gunga would be doing patty-cake with Lulu right now if she were still here with us.

On the way home we had a little snafu while stopping for some lunch. A delivery truck backed into the front of our car. Thankfully, the airbags did not deploy and the damage was only cosmetic...
The car looks a bit ghetto now, but we made it home just fine. If you are going to get in an accident while driving 1000 miles in 3 days, this is the best kind of accident. Bill told me I had a "Gunga moment" when he asked how I was doing after the accident and I answered "All things considered, it's been a good trip."

Even an unwanted fender bender could not dampen the joy of celebrating Deb in person. We haven't lived in the same state since 1993. But we still have walked the ups and downs of life together, even across the miles. We have changed a lot in the years since we first met as college freshmen and so has our friendship. We don't go dancing together anymore. We don't talk about cute boys-except for our husbands and teenage sons. And we don't go to Perkin's for The Chocolate Chipper at 4am. But we do talk about the deepest desires, dreams and disappointments of our lives. And we still laugh so hard that we almost pee our pants. Oh, the joys of a friendship that stands the test of time!