I’m crying right now because I just read this incredible post over at Maggie’s site. Not only does she rave about me and our deep and lasting friendship/what it means to her, but she goes on to explain what the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life means to her and why she’s doing it (I’ll give you a hint, it’s not just for me).
I can’t believe that I have such a dear friend as Maggie. I’ve piled up a number of failed friendships in my past and lately I seem only to get along best with people at least 15 years older than I. But Maggie’s post reminded me that she’s there, that we’re friends through and through, and it will never end. I know if I really needed her she would drop everything, pack up her gorgeous family and come out here to help me. But she knows that I have an incredible support system here in town among friends and family that are more local. Maggie feels like a sister almost. Since she gave you the whole sappy, heart-felt explaination of our friendship, allow me to tell you how we met over the years:

Most of you know I’ve been “chatting” online for several years now. WAYYYYYYY before there was e-Harmony, Instant Message and texting on your cell phone, I was in an IRC chatroom called #colorado. That’s where I met Maggie, Jim, Steve and Tonia, Tracy and, subsequently, my darling husband. The chat room doesn’t exist anymore (or does it?) but these are just some of the lasting friendships that I’ve maintained from the fallout.

The way I met Maggie really starts out just like the story about the way I met Honey…a girl nicknamed Brina had a chatroom party. We all mustered up our courages and rushed to her house in Denver to meet people behind the delightful mask of alcohol. I partied hard in those days but as I recall, Maggie didn’t drink very much. Anyway, at one of these parties Maggie was there. She had developed a relationship with another chatroomer nicknamed Miker. HAHA! He was cute. I remember partying and playing pool and roaming around the house talking to everyone (someday you should ask Pete for his imitation of me doing this! it’s FUNNY!). I talked to Maggie for a while but I’m sorry to say I don’t remember much of it. What I do remember is the next morning, Miker’s car had been towed for parking illegally in front of Brina’s downtown! Miker was Maggie’s ride and I felt sorry that she was stuck on a “date” with someone whom she obviously felt uncomfortable around. Miker was a nice guy, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve since learned how shy Maggie really is and that night and next morning, her shyness was really going strong. I didn’t want her to feel so uncomfortable so I turned into my honest, most boisterous self and butted into their predicament. I drove them downtown to retrieve Miker’s car. What happened after that is strictly their business but Maggie was super nice and fun to talk to all the way down there!

Fast forward a few years later…

Sure we all still chatted online and had parties together. I vaguely remember another time in Fort Collins when Maggie was dating someone else who happened to live up there (wth was his name? Kail?? he was cute too! Maggie sure knew how to pick ‘em! You should see her husband!). But nothing significant until about 4 years after that initial party…

There is a story of an infamous pre-season hockey game between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, to which our friend Tracy got a great deal on group tickets. She gathered together a huge group of us and we all met downtown for the game. That night is the first night Honey and I both displayed interest in each other (and is also the reason why he proposed to me a few years later right before a pre-season game between the same two hockey teams!). Maggie was also there and we had a chance to catch up with each other. As it turned out, we both had single dads who we were both close to, disfunctional relationships with our mothers and a deep, committed passion for early childhood education! We were like the same person living in parallel universes! From then on we chatted regularly through Instant Message and emails. It was uncanny how much we had in common.

Ever since then we’ve remained close. Through hard times and happy times we always found a way to connect over the miles. She moved from Colorado Springs to Gardner, Kansas a few years ago. She came to Honey’s birthday party at the Rio last year (thankfully she and Rich were in town visiting their own family for the holidays) and we got to have breakfast with them and Tracy on New Years Eve.

When she first told me about her honoring me in her involvement with the Relay For Life this year, I was stunned, shocked and incredibly humbled. The very least I could do was go out and walk with her in the relay. So we’ve arranged it at the tail end of our east coast beaching vacations to spend a few days in Kansas City with Maggie and her family. We’ll spend one of those days in Topeka visiting our own extended family but then the following three days are devoted to the Truitts and the Relay for Life. I can’t wait!

A couple months ago Maggie sent me a wonderful gift. See, she runs her own child care center (not day care center…we don’t take care of DAYS we take care of CHILDren!) out of her home. At the time she had two toddlers (including her own darling Julia) and a couple of babies (also, including her own lovely Rebecca). One day during their art time, she had them all make their handprints in paint on a large piece of paper, then wrote ABBEY YOU ARE NOT ALONE in the middle of the page. Then she took everyone’s hands, including her hubby Rich’s, and traced them on a t-shirt. On the back of the shirt she wrote in big, bold letters, WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK! The painting I have hanging prominantly on my refrigerator, the T-shirt’s in my closet and i often wear it to chemo treatments. It’s like a giant hug from my dearest and bestest friend Maggie. I love you, girl!