One of Them

I'm lucky to have had some wonderful friends in my life. I've also had some pretty crappy friends in my lifetime, but I think most can people can say that. And seeing as they were crappy, we're just going to forget about them, for this post is about the good ones.

Even though these people were all very good friends, I always had this nagging feeling that they really just didn't "get me" completely. To be honest, I generally put this down to the fact that I can be cautious when sharing what I'm thinking. I love these people dearly, but I often feared their reactions to what was going on in my brain. I just never felt comfortable enough to share it all with them. Whether or not they would have had adverse reactions to my nonsense, I don't really know, and perhaps it is a disservice to them that I never tried.

In any case, my mind believed that perhaps there just weren't people out there that I would ever truly think "got me".

My mind was wrong.

It was a sunny day in August, I think. (Okay so I don't really know if it was sunny, but it was August so odds are it was. I'm also really hoping it was actually August and not July, if it was, I apologize for not remembering correctly.) Anyway, on this particular day (it was a Tuesday, that I know for a fact!), I was participating in this thing called #turnthepage Tuesday, where you recommend books to others. I was pretty new to Twitter at this point, and really hadn't engaged with a lot of people yet (I'm a bit shy). However, as I looked over the recommendations from people I'd never met, one jumped out at me immediately. It was a recommendation for "The Picture of Dorian Gray", one of my favorite books.

I honestly cannot tell you why, on that day, I decided to forgo my usual self-imposed invisibility and send a message to this particular recommmender. But, I can honestly tell you, it's one of the best things I've ever done.

The lovely lady, that for some reason I was compelled to reach out to has become one of the most important people in my life. And even though I've never actually met her, (I truly hope someday I will), I feel a camaraderie with her unlike any I've really known.

She has been there to listen to my endless whining, to talk me down from my overthinking, panicky moments, and to just be a friend when I felt like hiding from the world. Her bravery, strength and endless eloquence have all inspired me in countless ways.

I've met many wonderful people through this curious thing known as Twitter, and I truly believe that one of them is a person who actually "gets me".

Her name is Nicole. And, I only hope that I have been as good a friend to her as she has been to me.