NANCY

it is now 4:40. Cheese is what lured my little yapper in this morning. I have been awake since 3:30 and fought against letting them go out. But with them both dancing around, letting me know it was bathroom time, I finally let them go. They went, she barked. I so tired and still sleepy, stumbled around the yard, flapping that piece of cheese in the air. Saying in this low pitched scream, "Come here "I" and see what Momma has." She darts a backward glance at me as if to say,"Cheese big deal." But finally they both came back inside and I turned on the coffee pot. Hoping that hot black liquid will awaken me a little better.

I looked a word up in the dictionary awhile ago. I keep a large print one here in the desk. It still is a little hard to see but I manage. I look words up quite often. I started that in 1980 when I went to college for the first time. I had a big gap in my education. I quit school in the 8th grade. Then went back at night for one full summer to get my diploma. Then in the fall of eighty I took the SAT tests, passed and started college. Even with a summer of school to get my high school diploma, I realized I had large gaps in my vocabulary. So I kept a paper back dictionary in my purse. To this day I look words up constantly for the meaning.

I looked the word friend up. The definition is, "A friend is a person attached to another with personal regard." That isn't exactly what I would have put down if I had been writing the definition. A quote that has been around for years is,"A friend is one who knows your faults and loves you anyway." I like that one. Another old quote is, Make new friends, but keep the old. New friends are silver, Old ones are gold." I like that too.



But I think out of three definitions I like the one about, A friend is one who knows your faults and loves you anyway." Anyone who is my true friend sure has to be able to do just that very thing. We choose our friends, our family we just inherit when we make our entrance into the world. Most families even if they fight amongst themselfes have that strong blood bond that seals them for life. A friend though can look at us usually a little more forgiving than family memebers sometimes do.

My fourth definition would be a single word. The word is,"Nancy". I met Nancy when I was twelve years old. I am always quick to point out she is a year and half older than me. So no matter how old I get, she is always older. Its good to have a friend who is the oldest, sort of a ego builder. Our Mothers were good friends. And from their friendship, sprang ours.

We are alike in many ways. Sometimes I wonder how we have made it all these years. We are both opinionated, argumentative. Okay now Nan don't get mad at me, I said I was too. But what Nancy has is compassion overflowing, and a giving heart. It wouldn't matter if she was so mad at me she could spit. I could call her up and say "I need some money." She could be flat broke and if I said I needed it. She would find it someway. I could go to her door after being a real jerk to her and say, "I need a place to stay." And she might have ten people there but she would find a place for me. I know these things without a doubt. Without hesitation. They are just facts I know to be true.

In February of 1984 my Mother was terminally ill in the hospital. Everyone was there all the time but I stayed at nights,alone. Just a few nights before Mother passed away Nancy cane to the hospital, prepared to stay all night with me and Mom. She was afraid Mother would pass away and I would be alone. We had two beds in the room and nobody but Mom as the patient. There was room for her. But I did not want to share my Mother with anyone. I knew she was leaving me and I could not bare the thought. I told Nancy no, I didn't want her there. Anyone else would have threw their hands up and said, "Well fine," and went home. Nancy told me should would me in the lobby if I needed her. Around three I walked to the lobby, just wanting to see if she was there. So sure she would have left after my hatefulness. But there she was, curled up in a straight back, hard seated, armchair. Fast asleep, waiting for me.

Now there friends is a definition of what a true friend is. I don't even have to look it up in the dictionary. We've had some rough times together, we've had mountain tops, we've had valleys. But through it all we have been friends. So if you have a fiend somewhere that falls under that definition then be like the old saying. "Make new friends but keep the old. My golden friend is named "Nancy."