A fun project for me...

My oldest and dearest friend "J" is a very recent breast cancer survivor. She is 42 years old and had an abnormal spot on her first ever mammogram at 40 years old that ended up being cancerous, she had a double mastectomy with reconstruction and was put on Tamoxofen a drug that is known to stop this type of cancer from returning but also wreaks havoc with your other feminine organs so she ended up having additional surgeries to remove cysts and polyps and ended up having to remove her ovaries at age 41 effectively throwing her into menopause. She has had a really rough time of it but through it all has been a real trooper and fought hard.

Next weekend she is going on a 4 day/3 night retreat/hike with other breast cancer survivors from a group she is in and the leader of this retreat called me last night - she got my number from J's husband and wanted to know if I would write a letter to J that she would be given at this retreat on the last night. The leader said that the letters from friends and family on the last night is always a highlight of these retreats. She said I should write about things that were funny or moving, just special things we shared over the years. Of course I said sure - but now I'm contemplating what to write - there are so many good stories as we have been best friends for 20 years. I met her first day of my freshman year of college - September 1988. She was my RA and had to be nice to me! LOL But as it turns out we were destined to be lifelong friends. We've laughed together, cried together, been through multiple relationships and breakups - two marriages for her, the birth of her kids, her divorce, many jobs for me, two relocations for me, and through it all we manage to stay in touch and stay close. She is one of the first people I told when I got this job, she is the only person I talked to when my marriage hit a bump that I wasn't sure we'd survive last year. She manages to hear all the bad things when I complain and still love my husband because he is my husband. I do the same for her. She is truly what a best friend is supposed to be and I'm lucky to have her. Now to convey this in a letter that won't require extra postage? :) I'm gonna try! I think I'll have to dig up a picture of us with smiling innocent faces and giant hair to include just for a laugh.