Just a small object in a plastic baggie. That’s all she handed me.
“I saw this at the Farmers Market and thought you’d like it.” she said with a bashful smile. I opened the baggie and pulled the contents out.
A wine cork.
A ceramic wine cork. An intricately designed ceramic wine cork.
So beautiful.
So thoughtful.
So useful, as I was opening a bottle of wine for us to share.
So lucky I am, to have this great friend.
“It is beautiful!” I exclaim.
She shouldn’t be buying me this. But that’s how she is. So giving. I glance at her sometimes with wonder and admiration. So unassuming. So hardworking. So kindhearted. So darn smart! What a beautiful soul. She dreams of comfort, of love, of health, of a car that doesn’t break down, of fashion, beautiful art, and having her own home. She deserves all the best. Her life is anything but easy, yet she plugs along each day fueled by an inner strength, a positive attitude, and with her head held high. She is always doing her best, taking care of everyone around her, and noticing intricate wine corks.
So lucky I am, to have this great friend.
Friends and family are her strength and foundation. Her kids are the direct lifeline and core of her heart. Her pride and joy, and she has been a true survivor raising them on her own. She is always there for them. She’s always there for everyone in her “circle” and she has a very big circle. I wonder how many of them reciprocate. They damn well better reciprocate!
She and I, we share the good times. We share some not so good times. We share quiet times, and sometimes, we just share thoughts about life and love and how we could change the world if only we could. If only I could do more to make things right for her, I surely would.
She has this amazing gift of being able to rise above the bad things that occasionally happen in her life, turn the other cheek, look at the most bleak situations from a positive perspective, and find something good to say no matter what. Even when she is struggling with her own health issues they are almost transparent, as she is a gentle fighter. How she can maintain that level of grace, I’ll never understand. I glance at her sometimes with wonder and admiration.
And after an hour, or a day, or a week of life’s struggles taking their toll on her, there she is in a moments notice, talking me up with the pride of a mother. Without judgment, or jealousy, or expectation, she is there for me. Even when I am at my worst. We can laugh, and laugh, and laugh…..or cry. Or analyze the problems with men for hours and hours. What I ever did to earn this woman’s kinship is beyond me.
Perhaps it’s my selection of wine on the rack. That would explain the cork.
My beautiful, intricate cork.
So lucky I am to have this great friend.
The cork is beautiful and you are very blessed and deserve to have many fine friends in your corner 🙂
You do know….that she is just as blessed to have a friend like you in her life…..someone who notices and appreciates all she is and all she has to offer!
Right there with you. I too have a friend like this. We don’t see each other very often as she lives across the country but whenever we are together it’s as if we’ve never been apart.
So wonderful that you treasure each other.
I know someone who should take more credit about being deserving of a friend like me/her. You get what you give in relationships, and I don’t mean just a wine stopper!
There are days when I don’t know what I would do without you in my life. I fell equally fortunate to have met you that fateful evening at Neisen’s. Funny thing, we were both trying to find a man, and I think we actually got a better deal by finding each other!
So many more adventures to come! Thank you for being one of my “Besties”. Friends like you don’t come along every day, so I treasure you even more for that reason.
Here’s to being friends forever! Cheers!