Be nice to people with needles.

It is crazy how people can enter your life in a completely random way, but you know that they are there to stay. (I so did not mean for that to rhyme. I’m not changing it.)  And before too long, you can’t really remember what your life was like before they showed up.

I am notorious for making friends in not so typical situations.  

But I met Katie when she stuck a needle in my arm.

Not even kidding.

She works in the medical field, and the first time we spoke was right before she shoved a 17 gauge needle in my vein.  We realized that her sister was then dating (they’re now engaged) an old friend of mine.  The conversation progressed and I learned that Katie had recently gone through a divorce.  This was before I had any idea that my marriage would soon crumble before my eyes, so I didn’t really think twice about it.

At that time, it never even crossed my mind that the friendship that would eventually form between the two of us would completely change and save my life.

One of the very first times we hung out, she and her sister, Joey, and I all managed to get locked out of the house that they then shared.  And we didn’t just get locked out a little bit.

Oh no.

The three of us ended up outside on the front porch with the deadbolts on both the front door and back door locked.  Yup.  They always kept the deadbolt on the back door locked, so that was no big deal. But somehow, when we were all outside, the deadbolt on the front door was locked from the inside of the house.

We were the only three people there.

It was one of the creepiest, most hilarious events of my life.

There is no physical explanation for what happened.

We eventually had to break into their house.  Like, literally break in.  We broke out a window and shoved Katie through it.

That night pretty much set the tone for our friendship.

We never don’t have fun (Gracious, I love double negatives. I blame it on my parents and their insistence on proper grammar.), and I have absolutely no doubt that if we decided to publish a book of nothing but our text message conversations, we would have an instant best seller.

She is probably the only person in America that has the same type of luck that I do.

Poor girl.

Everything that I am going through, she has been through it.  All the crazy emotions and confusion that I am feeling, she has felt too. 

And you know what?  She is okay. 

Actually, she is awesome.

When I see her, the way she still laughs constantly and loves with every ounce of her being, I know that I will be okay again soon.

(No way I will ever match her level of awesome though.)

P.S.  Next time someone is about to stick a sharp piece of metal in your arm, be nice to them.  They might end up being your best friend.