girlfriends | Stamp With Anita

Have you ever had a dream or desire that started as a quiet whisper in your heart?

For me it was a whisper that started out so subtle that for days, weeks or maybe even years it was drowned out or pushed aside as I moved through life’s daily tasks.

I even began to wonderful if I ever heard anything at all.

A few years ago I found myself going through life unable to see clearly. I was blindly operating on “auto-pilot”. When asked how I was doing I would even catch myself saying, “I’m surviving” or “Just trying to get through this day”. I had gotten trapped behind negative self talk and even started to believe this was as good as it was gonna get. Have you ever found yourself there? Continue reading →

Sometimes you need a special card for that someone special. Back in February I did a post sharing the Card in a Box I made for my “true” love… my best friend… my hubby… for Valentine’s Day. You can find that post HERE. Today I want to give you a sneak peek of the one I made for my other “true” love… my bff… since grade school.

You know… that special friend that when your paths first crossed you became instant friends. No matter what storms came your way… a new friend moving in right next store, boy crushes, parents divorcing, moving away from one another, getting married and starting your own families miles apart… you still can come together for a precious time of a few stolen minutes and start right back where you left off. That’s who this card was for… my girlfriend, my bff Liz. I was blessed to spend some precious time with her and give her this card a few weeks ago during our quick trip to Maryland. Nothing better than a hug from your best friend!

Liz and I met 40 years ago. Our friendship is the longest and dearest friendship I have. I was in the fourth grade (the same age as my youngest child) and had just moved into town and to this day we can’t agree which one of us got in the wrong line on the first day of school. I’m guessing since I was new it was me, but let’s not tell her that. The one thing we can agree on is that in that very moment both of our lives had been changed forever. We discovered we lived right around the corner from one another and became the best of friends.

We truly “grew” up together as we spent hours, days and years playing with Barbies, riding bikes, scraping our knees, going to girl scout meetings, making crafts, learning to bake and sew, going camping, swimming, playing games in the park till dark, watching movies, giggling through sleepovers, staying up all night sharing life together. We went from chasing lightning bugs and running from boys as little girls to chasing boys and letting them catch us through our
teen years.

But then something happen that rocked both our worlds. Before high school began Liz’s parents divorced. This was the first of many families that would go through this painful separation. To this day the pain of her having to move away with her mom was one of the most painful moments I had growing up, not knowing at the time my own parents would be following suit. I remember crying till all my tears had emptied out and I could not cry one more tear… my heart just ached.

We wrote long heartfelt letters to one another promising to always be there for one another no matter what, no matter how many miles were stretched between us. I still have mine packed away somewhere but found these quick notes of love written on the back of school pics she gave me way back then. After she moved away we cherished the moments we got to spend together when it was her dad’s weekend and she was back around the corner from me or the special times that I would get to spend with her at her mom’s house and even her grandma’s house which wasn’t as far away.

Life went on and we both grew up in our different worlds and life was nothing like our childhood plans of growing up, buying a camper and traveling carefree across the nation together experiencing life. HA! Instead I moved from Maryland to Ohio to go to college. There was no internet or social media back then, only long distance phone calls and writing letters. And for us… it was mostly letter writing because I didn’t have a phone. As a mom with kids in college now I can’t even imagine not being able to call or text them anytime I want. It was a different world. Oh how we missed one another during those years… sometimes you just need to talk with your best friend face to face and those times were difficult.

But… in some ways I truly miss the art of letter writing. I still treasure the hand written notes and letters I have from those I love… the love notes from my now hubby Todd when we dated… the hand written letters and recipes from my mother who I miss dearly, especially treasured today on her birthday… and of course the notes and letters from my best friend.

Eventually, we both married and of course were each others Maid of Honor. She married her high school sweetheart Sam and stayed in Maryland and I married my high school sweetheart Todd and settled in Ohio… oh so many miles away! We tried to stay in touch over those early years of adulthood as best we could being so far apart, but those seemed to be the years that the distance between us was so vast in so many ways.

Then… we both started families and that seemed to give us a new special bond as we shared in the love, joy, tears and heartache of raising a family. Every chance I got to go home we would get together with our kids and catchup on life. The pics above of our firstborns were taken almost 20 years ago. We both wished we had lived closer to one another so we could have done this season of our lives together. I can’t believe so much time has past since those pics were taken and we’ve both sent our kids off to college.

But through it all… the good, the bad and the unknown I can always count on her. I know her love and concern for me is genuine, unconditional and true as mine is for her. I wish more than anything that we lived closer but am so blessed that we have one another and can even keep in touch through Facebook. I wish we had more moments in real time together, but I love that when do get together we can start right back up where we left off even after being apart for months or even years. Gosh I love this girl!!!

Our friendship is deeply rooted, always authentic, respectfully honest, lovingly real, painfully raw, sometimes messy, positively priceless and heavenly bound. The more years that go by the more I realize just how special our friendship truly is… just how much of who I am is because of “us” and how very much I love and miss her. I also realize that I need to make sure she knows just how special she is to me. I don’t think we… or at least I… let those I love and care about know just how special they are to me and how important their friendship is. So that is why I made this card just for her. Something fun to say hello… to let her know I miss her. How about you? Have you let that special friend know just how special they are to you? Go for it… send a text, or a hand written note, or give them a call, make time to get together.

If you would like to make this special card for yourself to give then I encourage you to sign up for my Card in a Box Class.

My Card in a Box Class is coming up soon and I would love for you to join me to make this fun card that you can give to that someone special in your life.

Card in a Box Class
Tuesday May 6th at 6:30pm
or
Wednesday May 7th at 10am.
Class fee $15
Please Register by May 2nd

You will create a lovely free-standing card that would be perfect for Mother’s Day, a Birthday or Graduation. You will learn how to make the base as well as decorate the card using exclusive stamps, punches and die-cut framelets. You will even learn to make your own envelope using the Envelope Punch Board. Please bring your favorite adhesive and scissors.