Pulled down, Pushed Aside

After spending five weeks in Paris, Judy returned last night, but before she could even make it home, she stopped by my house to drop off these Parisian treats. She was a little wobbly on her feet because, by the time she made it to my driveway, she was going on no sleep for almost twenty-four hours. We hugged and giggled like teenage girls, while her sweet husband, Richard, watched us from the driver’s seat.

It was my first time meeting him, and like he, one would think Judy and I have known each other for years, but it is not so. I suppose that is the beauty and mystery of finding your people. It seems you go wandering through the wilderness of strange behaving people for years, until finally, you meet one or two people who just “get you,” and surprisingly, “you get them.”

I met Judy one afternoon at the Orange Street Pier. We talked about the fluffy stuff, like the sunset, the weather, and the area, at first, but within minutes, we dug beneath the surfaces. We exchanged phone numbers and have been kind of inseparable since.

I am a writer, and Judy is an avid reader, so plainly put, we are perfect together. When I told her about my manuscript, she offered to read it. Since that day, she’s printed over six copies and read it three times. The last time we met for an entire week in my garage-turn-studio, and she read each chapter to me. We erased words, restructured sentences, and shuffled paragraphs. We were creating something magical, and we often paused to check in on the other to see if it was real.

Were we having this much fun working?

One day, I could hardly smile or sit because I was in intense pain. I didn’t want to stop editing, so Judy suggested I lie in bed. I took some pain meds, elevated my legs, and turned my heating pad on high. Judy got herself a glass of water, pulled a chair to my bedside, and continued reading. Our relationship came at such ease that being vulnerable also came with such relief. Maybe we were at such rest with each other because in reading my stories, she was inspired to share hers. In so doing, the barriers between us were pulled down and pushed aside.

May we all find our place and our people

Kadine