Lights of 2008: Huggie Heather Visits!

Here's to another light of 2008: a girls weekend with Heather.

Neither Heather nor I went to our ten year Davidson reunion (although I would have gone if I could have!), so we planned our own little ten year reunion.  My mom was out of town at a wedding for the weekend, so it was just me and Heather--which meant good eats and lots of good talks. 

In the above picture, Heather is getting my lunch ready for me. Rarely do I let anyone other than 'parental units' take care of me, but this weekend Heather was in charge. Mom had done the cooking ahead of time, but otherwise, Heather got dinner out, made salad, made my lunches, cleaned up all the dishes, ran the dishwasher, emptied the dishwasher (she even did this at the crack of dawn before she left for her flight!), brought in the newspaper, emptied the dehumidifier, and all other things 'household' that needed to be done.  

Heather was so great about making me feel comfortable letting her take care of me and help out. One of my biggest challenges with this illness is not only being dependent on others, but letting others besides my parents help. It is very, very difficult for me to receive love in this way from others. You'd think I'd have this figured out by now, but I so don't! I want to be a host to my guests, not have them taking care of me...

I'm looking a little pale in this picture to say the least, as I had one of my horrible non-sleep nights before Heather arrived. Still, it's the only time someone was here to take a picture of the two of us together.

Heather and I became very close senior year of college when we spent a lot of time together in our upper-level psych classes. Since then, we've kept in touch only sporadically, but have somehow maintained a very strong connection to each other. We can go very, very long periods of time without being in touch, yet when we do connect, it's wonderful.

I'm not sure either of us quite knew what to expect from the visit. And we each were, admittedly, a bit nervous because we hadn't seen each other in so many years. We hadn't been together since before I got sick, which can and does change the dynamics of a relationship.  I don't go out and 'do' stuff with visitors--we just hang out, rest, talk, eat, and rest some more. Heather was really excited to just have a TV and vege a bit while I was resting! 

To say that the visit was life-changing would not be an understatement. And to say that it made us more sure than ever of our friendship is also true. When both Mommy Bev and Heather came to visit, I didn't really know what to expect--but each visit certainly exceeded any expectations I could have had.

Heather and I had the house to ourselves, which gave us a lot of space just to really talk. And talk we did. We shared things we had never shared with anyone else.  It was healing for both of us. I love it when those sort of conversations, the ones we least expect, unravel so organically and comfortably. 

Oh, and Heather brought me a Boston Red Sox T-shirt, so I'm now torn between the Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. But, as she says, the Sox are totally a team for me...they waited how many years to win the World Series? Just like I wait each and every day for healing.

Sometimes the 'B and B' here at our house seems eternally busy, but this year Mom and I didn't have as many visitors so that we could just enjoy her being 'on retirement'. The two visitors we did have? Fantastic! Definitely Lights of 2008!

I love you Heather! I can't wait to have you down from Boston again. It's probably only a touch warmer here than it is there right now though! Hugs!

Blessings,

Emily

Photos: Heather being domestic; me and Heather