Friday, October 28, 2011

Zinnia

My apologies, this is a day late. Happy Birthday to my dear friend Zinnia!
I would be lost in Michigan without her. Who would have ever thought our friendship would grow into what it is today. When we moved to MI, I wasn't too thrilled. Not that there is anything wrong with MI, but my time living close to my family was not as long as I had planned. It was hard to adjust and want to make friends. When we lived in MN, I had discovered the message board called Mamasource.com. I met all my MN friends through that message board. I tried it here, but didn't get as much for a response. A woman directed me to events at the park during the summer. She lived in the same town and had kids almost the same age. Desperate for a new friend, I emailed her back asking if she wanted to meet at the park. I probably would not have suggested this, meeting a stranger at the park, but I had a good experience in MN with Mamasource and didn't think there was much harm in meeting at the only park in town. Well, I never heard from the woman and didn't think too much of it.
N worked a lot of Sunday mornings when we first moved here. Church was on my own with three kids. Four was only two at the time and church could be a challenge. After mass one day, a woman walked across the pew and commented on how good my kids were. I kind brushed off their behavior as not being that good, but could have been worse. Then I explained that we just moved here. She said "From Minnesota?" That woman was Zinnia. Same woman the entire story. After we met at church, we could meet in person. Our first play date was on a school day. Seven was five at the time at in kindergarten. Turns out her oldest was in the same class. We had a play date with Four, Six and her twins. It was terrible. Four took every toy out of the twins hands. I had a migraine and almost canceled, but the Immitrex I took finally kicked in before they arrived. After, I wanted to cry. My kids were not the best behaved. I called Iris in MN and told her what happened. She sympathized and said it would get better.
With that rocky start, we met up a few times during kindergarten and really got to know each other by the end of the school year. First grade the oldest kids weren't in the same class. We managed to spend a lot of time together. Between dropping kids off at preschool and then running errands together, to Friday nights for pizza, we spend quite a few days together. We've become project crazy ladies and she is the source for making cards, pocket projects and lovies. We taught religious education together and have attended mass many weekends with our kids. We work well together. Our husbands think we are trouble together, but what do they know.
I am so thankful to have her in my life. She's been such a good friend to me. My time in MI has been great since getting to know her. She will see me through this next hurdle in my life. She has helped me keep my faith in MI. I'd be lost without her. I hope she truly had a wonderful day and look forward to many more birthdays together in the years to come.

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