Friendship Disregards Distance

I was given a Strength key by my girlfriend for Christmas under the guise that it was from her son, since we are not supposed exchange gifts. I was touched by the story of the keys. I held on to it for my personal strength and then decided to pass it on to a friend in San Francisco that is in a bad marriage and needs to figure out how to get out of it. I never got around to doing that.

On April 17th my best friend and a friend like no other called me to tell me that she had Stage 4 colon cancer that had already spread to her liver. It was detected from a random unrelated test. She had no symptoms and no reason to even be concerned.

She is in Dallas, I am in NY we have been best friends for 25 years and have lived away from each other 22 of those years. Our friendship has had a few tests but we always forgive and we are truly each others, other half.

As she begins her fight to gain a few (I hope many) more years, I feel so helpless and inadequate that she is on this journey and I am so far away. I am going to make a surprise visit to her this weekend and with me will be that key. I am giving it to her as my symbol of our bond and that this key is my connection with her to give her the strength for what she will endure in this battle and also to know that I am always with her as long as she has that key.

This is truly one of the best gifts I have ever received.