I just came back from driving my dear friend, Karen to the airport. She was visiting us here in Phoenix from Baltimore – just for the weekend. That’s quite a schlep for a two-night stay but we pack a lot of love and laughter into such short times together. You know, quality not quantity.

We last saw each other about 10 months ago, but when I picked her up at the airport on Friday afternoon, it was like we’d just seen one another the day before. That’s just how it is with some friends.

Karen and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary of friendship next month. We first met in New York on my very first day of a job at an international banking corporation – her laughter across the entire 18th floor of the building announced her presence.

We’ve shared wonderful U.S. and European travel adventures together, and supported one another in times of joy, grief, sadness, frustration, denial, etc. – especially where men were concerned! She stood by my side when, as an atheist, I at times ranted about the lack of proof of the existence of God; she would gently comment that she thought “the lady hath protest too much.” She stood by me when my communication skills as a friend were lacking. She stood by me in love. And, I was so grateful that four short years ago she flew from Dallas to attend my wedding, joining in the celebration of love and reunification in this lifetime of Rog and me.

Karen has been a role model for me of love starting at the very beginning of our friendship, and in more recent times, has been a role model of deep faith and trust. We often say, “If only we lived nearer to one another…” But we both know that we are in one’s another’s heart, and in that place with God, we are always near.