Chris's Guest Post

I don't know who this paragon of excellence is, exactly, but I am gratified to know Chris considers me a true friend --because he is one to me. He is my best male friend, in fact -- my 'go-to' guy when I need to vent and understand things from a man's perspective...Since we are at the Cleveland Clinic for Excy's heart surgery (scheduled tomorrow morning) Chris is filling in for me here...he is one of the better writers in the bloggie world, and I suggest you go check out his fantastic blog -- you'll want to be a follower..Letter from Joshua.



I offered to write a post or two for Amy while she is focused on more important things, and she foolishly accepted. I can only assume that it's to make her writing look even better by comparison. Which is totally going to work.

I've known Amy since high school. We've lived at least 400 miles apart since our early twenties, and we were out of touch for most of the decade that coincided with my first marriage. Luckily, it was the eighties, so nobody really missed anything. We speak only occasionally, and I'm lucky if I see her and Excy every other year. In spite of all that, I count her among my very closest and most valued friends.

You see, I really don't have any choice. Amy makes me a better person just by knowing her. If you are one of her regular readers, then you know about her struggles with her health. And her passion for animals. You have probably picked up on her strength, and intelligence, and grace.* What may not come through as much in her writing is her humor, and her absolute joy of living.** I have never known anyone else whose every action reminds me that we should be enjoying ourselves. She laughs freely, and will make time for her friends, whether she has it or not.

She also has this mildly annoying habit of knowing the right thing to do, even if her friend has a perfectly good and respectable reason for doing something else. However, she totally lacks the tendency to tell said friend that she told him so, after things blow up in my his face. I really don't understand that.

None of us know where life will take us, or how long we have here. But if we're lucky, we meet a few people who encourage the better demons of our nature, without even really trying. If you ever find yourself with such a friend, try not to let them get away.

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* We're totally not talking physical grace, though. If there is something for the girl to trip on, or bump into, or knock over, it's going to happen.

** Yes, I know there is a popular French phrase that means "joy of living."  Snooty much?