I’m Off To L.A.!

…..Lower Alabama, that is!     My best friend, Judy, lives in what we natives call “Lower Alabama”.     Due to family obligations and circumstances beyond our control, we have not had a girl’s weekend in almost 2 years!    She called me when we were on our way home from our trip to Vicksburg and Natchez and we decided this weekend would be a good time for a long visit and to try and catch up on lost time.     Her husband is out of town for a week so we can talk and talk and talk (and shop….our #1 thing to do)!. 

I had planned on leaving Thursday afternoon after work to go to her home which is about 1 1/2 hours away from my house but since I’ve been under the weather this week, I’m not leaving until Friday morning.   

Judy and I have been best friends since the early 80’s when we met in church.    I was always a little intimidated by her because she ran with the “in crowd” and was so fashionable and stylish.      It seemed she had the perfect home, the perfect marriage, the perfect everything, but of course nothing is perfect.     She called me one evening at home and wanted me to go to the movie with her to see ‘Risky Business” (ya’ll remember that with smokin’ Tom Cruise)?     We sat in the back of the theater with a large box of popcorn dripping butter and each of us had a large Coke…..we laughed until we cried at the movie and from that day forward, our friendship was sealed.     Truth be known, she’s more down-to-earth than anyone I know (her personality reminds me of Goldie Hawn).    

Throughout the years, we’ve been there for each other through lots of ups and downs.     I’ve told her more than once if it had not been for her when I was going through my divorce many years ago, I don’t think I would have made it.     She is the true definition of a “friend”.

A few years ago, when my now husband and I were dating, Judy and her husband lived here in our town for a while, in fact on my mom’s street.    One evening we decided to drop in for a little visit with Judy and her husband and Judy and I started talking about fixing up hubby’s (then boyfriend) house.      Judy’s husband spoke up and said “don’t let those women in your house, they’ll paint everything in sight, and they’ll put pillows, mirrors, tassels and lamps EVERYWHERE!”    (he sure does know us)….needless to say, we didn’t get to fix up his house because we got married that same year and he found out how right Judy’s husband was!

I call her my “trust fund” friend as she came into quite a bit of moola but it has not changed her a bit.     They did buy a bigger camper and built a beautiful home, but she loves to shop at Freds, Cato, Wal-Mart and does not spend her money foolishly.     By the way, when a realtor toured her home recently, she could not believe the home had not been furnished from a high-end store!  However, she quietly does good with her money when she hears of someone in need.    A few years ago during Christmas, she found out about a family near her that was about to lose their home to foreclosure due to job loss.     She called the firm handling the foreclosure to see what it would take to get the foreclosure stopped.     Then she called on a few friends and asked them if they would be willing to contribute whatever they could to help this family.      Of course, Judy contributed the lion’s share.    Her only stipulation was that her contribution and name not be used….she wanted it to be an anonymous donation.    The family was able to save their home thanks to Judy’s generous spirit.     This is only one example of her big heart.

Here we are at the beach 2 years ago (Judy has on all white and I am in black and white)

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend.     We’re hoping for some sunshine and spring-like temps here for a change!