Top Ten List

I was talking to Madeline yesterday about friendship and her best friends. She listed her top ten friends, in order. It made me think. Do I have ten friends? Do they have a ranking? Am I in anyone's top 10?
Now I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Madeline and I had to go through my friends, and put them in order. I was relieved to discover that I do have 10 friends. Not friendly acquaintances. Not people that I can have polite conversation with when I see them. These are people that I could call at 2am for help, and they would be there. These are people that were there when I needed them and are still there now.
Okay, fast forward to today. I was talking to one of my bestest on the phone. She is funny and an amazing mom and someone I would like to be more like. I think I'm really lucky that she likes me, and don't know how I would get through without her. We were talking about her kid, the one that just cracks me up without even trying. I joked about teasing said kid when she was in high school and all grown up. Then it hit me. I have a friend that will be my friend until we are old and wrinkly. We're going to be friends and celebrate our kids' graduations together. We're going to see them get married and then we are going to become grandmothers together. How lucky am I? I'm part of this circle of amazing women who have reminded me that I'm not just a mother and wife, I'm a woman too. They pick me up when I'm down, they make me laugh when I want to cry. They take care of my girls like they are their own. They like me for no other reason than because I'm me. How lucky am I?
I want to thank you all, you know who you are. And just so there's no debate, Daniel Patrick Duffy received the top seed because at the end of every day, he's still my favorite person to talk to. But JT, GW, HR, MH, ET, AH, AP, SS, KK. Thank you. Can't wait to be persnickety old ladies with you.