I Love Her Even if She Doesn't Love Classic Rock

My best friend is coming for a visit in four weeks and my mind is racing. What will we talk about? There's so much. What will we do? There's so little time.

We met in fifth grade and have been friends ever since. The Air Force kept her family moving for over a decade but through it all, we managed to sneak in the visits (mostly on her part), the emails (mostly on my part) and the phone calls (mostly on her part, when her family lived in England and would call and forget about the nine hour time difference and the phone would ring at our house at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. My mom loved that).

Two years ago, I was in her wedding. Now, it's her husband that has kept her in far flung corners; or rather, his education. Though we may be miles apart, picking up where we left off has always been our specialty.

The strange thing about our friendship is that we're not the traditional best friends. We don't like the same television shows or the same shoes. We don't scream and jump up and down when we find out Aerosmith or Bon Jovi is coming to town (hush, you know you've done it) because we don't really have the same music tastes. Our tastes, in fact, are opposite on several fronts. While I consider us both to be spiritual people, she is much more forward with her spirituality. She is a Christian and a good one and not just because she should be but because that is truly how she was made. It's what she honestly feels whereas I feel more like I could keep mostly to myself and be perfectly content with the fate of my soul. She's tall and thin and doesn't think twice about self-image. I am five foot six and have a mental block that doesn't allow me to consistently accept the size of my jeans. She is annoyed easily and affectionately argumentative and I? Well, I'd just rather have a drink and relax, sans the talking.

We're different, but in the best ways. We're different the way the mountains are to the sea: without one, you cannot truly know the value of the other. And what makes it work is that we accept these differences in one another. I never expect her to be someone she's not, and she has never required anything of me. I'm just allowed to be the person I am, with imperfection and without the least bit of grace most of the time. I don't know why this is, either. Maybe it's because we've known one another for so long or because we've been thousands of miles apart for most of our relationship. I couldn't tell you. What I do know is that it works, and it's good. What more could I ask for, really?

So she's going to be here in four weeks and I am filled with anticipation for everything the visit has in store. I've got thirty days to stock up on some wine, for the late-night chats. I've got thirty days to get the guest room ready for it's favorite visitor. I've got only thirty days to lose eight pounds and appear four inches taller than I actually am. It's gonna be so great!