Day 290.

Saturday, October 17, 2009.

My best friend from high school got married last week - and her reception in Champaign was last night. It was incredible to see her in a beautiful wedding dress, so happy with this new man beside her...whom I'd never met! That was weird, let me tell you - I now know what she must have felt like when she came to meet Jason at my wedding - it's weird to see someone who is so a part of your life - close and intimate with someone you don't know at all.

I am grateful for roots.

Monique and I had a really special relationship in high school. We were inseparable. I had a guy (whom I had liked during high school) tell me after graduation that he never asked me out because I was just always around Monique all the time - that we were too close...a bond that couldn't have been broken by stupid high school guys I guess.

I realized again just how special this friendship was this morning, when my kids and I went to a brunch at Monique's family's house. We wanted to get to know her new husband better, and to just celebrate with the whole family. What a blessing it was to be there. Monique's family is Mormon, and I have never been or ever will be Mormon. But, I am accepted into their home like one of their children. When someone showed up at the brunch, they actually asked if I was one of "the sisters" (Monique has four sisters). Both of Monique's parents did not hesitate and said confidently, "YES!" It meant so much for them to say that about me, 11 years after Monique and I graduated from high school and really 11 years after I was in their home regularly. I knew the impact their family had on my life, but I hadn't thought about the depth of those roots...with this family that wasn't even my biological family. They had given me so much during those four years of potential high-school angst. I hadn't thought about that time for awhile, and the emotional impact it had on me. These roots in love and acceptance from Monique and her whole family, along with obvious roots from my own biological family have helped me to grow into the woman I am today.

I hope someday I can be that family to one of my children's friends. It's not like I needed a stable home - I had it. It was just a bonus for me - to have a second family that loved me like one of their own.