Facetime

The girls playing in the snow at Timberline Lodge.
Heather and I with the girls at Mt. Hood. This photo was taken by my high school calculus teacher, who we ran into while up at the mountain for lunch, leaving Heather to conclude, with no doubts at all, that Portland really is a SMALL place!

It's true what they say, old friends are the very best friends. This past weekend, my pal Heather came north for a visit. We've been friends for 15 years and stood at each other's sides as we've married, had children and experienced life's joys and struggles. We've seen each other at least weekly. That is, until I moved away in May.

Moving is hard logistically. Coordinating a house sale, job searching, and countless other factors. But, moving is even harder emotionally. Saying goodbye to the friends you see regularly and replacing in-person chats for emails and phone calls. It takes its toll.

We've been lucky to form budding new friendships and to rediscover old friendships here in Portland. But a weekend with Heather reminded me how refreshing it is to be with a friend who knows you almost as well as you know yourself. One who knows your children and is happy to have lunch with your squirming toddler on her lap, or give your preschooler a time-out when she needs it. One who can ask the big questions and who isn't afraid to offer her true opinion on the new rug in the living room. It was a wonderful weekend.

Now that she's back in California, it's back to emails and calls. Today, we were chatting online and she wrote, "I like that I can picture where you are right now." It's true: now she's toured my new world here in Portland, she's seen our new house, she knows where my laptop is perched in the kitchen as I exchange text with her. And that, along with our great chats over the weekend, will help tide me over until the next visit. But how good it was to get some in-face time as a supplement to the past six months of typeface time!