I have had the great fortune to travel all over the world in my fifty something years of living. It all began as an Air Force brat in Wiesbaden, Germany. As dad’s career progressed, our travels took us to the San Francisco area of California, back to Germany (Berlin where I started elementary school), to Duluth, Minnesota/Superior, Wisconsin, and finally to Warner Robins, Georgia. Although I now live in Louisiana, my family is from Georgia, therefore I will always consider Warner Robins home.

Growing up moving around was hard being such a shy child (I know … imagine that!) It was difficult to make friends, and by the time I mustered the courage to do so, we were moving … again. When we moved to Georgia, we lived on one side of town, then moved to another side and then in sixth grade schools integrated, so again I changed schools numerous times. All of these moves within six school years contributed to my insecurities and feeling like I just never belonged.

Recently, I returned to Georgia to visit my father and made a quick stop in Warner Robins to visit high school girlfriends. And let me tell ya, in the short time living in that little Air Force town (which now has become a big town), I made up for lost time. I found the best girlfriends a girl could ever want. It made up for all those years traveling all over Europe and the U.S. longing to belong and be someone’s special friend.

I got to spend time with Bev and Teri, both of whom will make you wet your pants laughing. They are just that fun and funny. You forget about any troubles you might have when they are around. And then there’s Marsha. She is the backbone of our high school senior class, as she plans reunions to keep us all connected and cohesive in our aging years. And Jan … Lordy Lordy. That girl tried to teach me to drink Southern Comfort our senior year at a football game. I was such a Pollyanna, goody two shoes, and I couldn’t decide if I should report her to the school officials or just take a swig to be cool and fit in. I opted for the latter and there was no need to rat her out as when the paramedics resuscitated me from respiratory arrest they could smell something “medicinal” on my breath. There was no convincing anyone it wasn’t Chloraseptic throat spray. Cough! Cough! Ok … I’m exaggerating … but only slightly. Who in their right mind drinks that crap?! One swig was more than I could bear! That Jan … if ever I found myself in trouble, Jan was most assuredly close by. My daddy would die if he knew she convinced me to ride around town one night in Gerry Meads hearse (no one had died but I might have wished I had if daddy had caught me!) It’s no surprise at all that to this day Jan will tell everyone I am her BFF … as they say, “you’ll always be my friend because you know too much!” Also got to spend time with Tami and although she and I weren’t close in high school, I have to wonder why. We have developed an unbreakable bond through our common love and understanding of our Methodist faith and our love for singing in the choir. She has the voice of an angel, a heart of gold and loyalty that will withstand the test of time.

During this recent visit, as I enjoyed the pleasure of their company while having breakfast at Cracker Barrel, I looked around at these four ladies, watching them laughing and sharing high school stories, and I thought how precious each one was to me in their own individual, unique ways. As the meal was set before us, Marsha asked, as she always does when I’m with her, if someone would ask the blessing. And so, here we were, five friends from high school, some who had been born and raised and never left Warner Robins, and others such as myself who had lived all over the world, hoping someday I would feel that not only would I belong, but that someday I’d have just one good girlfriend to share girl stuff with.

Yes, my path in this journey called life has taken me throughout the US and across Europe and to many of the Caribbean Islands during my young, formative years to the present day as a daughter, wife, mom and friend, but few things have meant as much to me than this very moment praying with these beautiful women, each so different in many ways, yet all with the common bond of growing up in little ole Warner Robins, Georgia … insecure teens wanting to belong, to be accepted and loved.

Life really isn’t that complicated at all, is it? It matters not where we came from, nor where we’ve been. Nope. Here’s what matters … being present in the moment … unashamedly bowing our heads in a public restaurant thanking God for forty years of blessed friendship. I now know all that moving around as a kid, as hard as it was, made me who I am today … a very grateful woman who thanks God every single day for making up for lost time by blessing my life with strong, beautiful, funny, loving and supportive friends. In the words of John Denver, “Take me home country roads, to the place I belong ” … and as often as possible, where I hope my precious friends will always be waiting to share our love for God, a meal, a laugh, a smile. And then getting to drive those back roads to Eastman, getting out of the car and my daddy putting his arms around me and asking, “How’s my little girl?” Icing on my cake. Yes indeed. I have arrived. I belong. I am loved. And for that I say … Amen.