The first time I met Midge, I really wasn’t sure what to think. She was outgoing and talkative and loud. The opposite of me – introverted, quiet, and shy. But they say opposite attract…
I’ve spent the last year or so helping Midge through a really rough divorce – the details aren’t mine to share, but just know she deserves better than the short end of this stick.
Midge and I seemed to have come into each others lives at precisely the moment we needed each other most. She was nearing the end of a nasty marriage (hadn’t yet decided to leave, but it was definitely already rough). I was still recovering from having lost a close friend (not Lily, this one left of her own accord). She needed someone to lean on while she found her footing, and I needed someone to remind me that some friendships are real and unconditional.
Midge has been here for the last 3 years. Every time my heart has hurt, she’s been there with a hug and no expectations. Every time I’ve needed to laugh and celebrate, she laughed and celebrated with me. She was my biggest cheerleader when I started down the path to coaching professionally. And I tried to help her hold her marriage together, though that didn’t actually work out. I’ve held her hand through what have been some of the hardest times of her life.
She’s what I’ll miss most about Washington. If I could stuff her in my suitcase, I would do it in a heartbeat. She’s a great friend – I know she’ll miss me and I know this is hard for her. She wants me to be happy, so she encourages me to do this crazy thing and move my family to the other side of the planet. But she’s having a hard time dealing with it all, so she’s referring to it as “Barbie’s dream house in Honolulu”. She’s actually the inspiration for the pseudonyms I’m using here.
I’m going to miss having coffee on the front porch after we drop the kids off at the school bus stop in the mornings. And the random calls at 10pm (help!! Wardrobe malfunction!!). And the silly things she leaves at my front door just to make me smile.
I worry constantly about her. I know things are hard and still getting harder. And I won’t be close enough to just come over and give her a hug.
I’m sorry, Midge. But I love you and you’ll always have a place in my home, even if it’s 7,000 miles away.
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