Gratitude Journal #40

Five days left in the year, and Five Gratitude Entries to go before reaching my goal of 100. I have tried over the year to remember to be grateful for the little things, like the Starbucks employees who start work at 4a, so that when I pull into the drive-thru at 6a, someone is there to make me my Chai tea latte. But the truth is, what I am most grateful for in my life are the people. And so, this last week’s worth of gratitude entries are going to be about the people I am grateful for.

Gratitude Entry #96 –  M & B
I have known M for a little over 10 years. We met through a mutual friend and the writing group she put together. It would have never occurred to me then that our friendship would become what it has. 

People always say that making friends gets harder as you get older. And on some level that is true. A lot of the people in my life have been in my life since at least undergrad. It never occurred to me that I would make such a good friend in my mid-30s. But M collects people, and I am grateful she collected me.
The really weird thing is that it was not just M and I that became friends. We are both married to pretty strong introverts, and yet B and C also became friends. And now, we are all friends.
But while I am absolutely grateful for M & B’s friendship in general, they are making this particular list because last year the allow myself, C, and the dogs to live with them for 7 full months. In fact, we moved out pretty much exactly a year ago. Oh, and we moved into a house less than 5 minutes away from theirs.

When we were running out of options, M & B gladly stepped up. Our situation was not quite normal. But they put up with it. With us. With the dogs. For seven months. 

For seven months we were the roommates, and they did not even charge us rent. (They totally should have.) They lived with the ups and downs of us getting our house sold and then finding a new home. They put up with the barking and the digging. I will never forget it.

I will always be grateful that M & B are in our lives and that they were willing to open up their home to us.