Day 167 of 365 Days of Being Thankful



          Today I am so thankful that I got to see my friend Donna!  Donna lives in CT and I have not seen her for about 6 or 7 years!  But is was like being with someone I see everyday.  I just love Donna.  Donna's daughter was playing in a softball tournament about 35 miles from me so we met about halfway at a Paneras. When she asked me if I wanted to meet up, I said "absolutely." She is an adoptive mom and a bereaved mom. I met Donna online years ago when she was thinking about adopting from Ukraine.  After chatting for a few minutes on the phone we realized that we were both bereaved moms.  There is nothing worse that can happen to any mom but also  nothing stronger than a bond between bereaved moms. Dan and I went to meet Donna and her husband Pat in person after we went to Amy's best friend Kristen's  wedding in 2011.  Donna is very upbeat and very friendly and so funny! Her four year old son Michael died in a tragic accident. She has a gorgeous, biological daughter Jenna who will be a senior in high school this coming year.  Her beautiful adopted daughter Ana is 17 and will be a sophomore in the Fall.  Donna and I can talk about anything.  We can complain about our husbands or our kids or how awful it is to be without one of our children. We can talk about our deceased children.   Our conversation just flows so easily. She told me that she gave her girls until Wed. this week to find summer jobs or she was going to turn their phones off.  I said to her..."that is exactly what I do!"  She said to me..."Where do you think I got the idea?" Donna's daughter Jenna is an elite softball player.  She is traveling on an elite CT state softball team. She recently told Donna and her husband that she has decided she doesn't want to play softball in college. She has been recruited by many schools for softball  and has a 4.3 GPA!  Donna wishes she had told her BEFORE she put out the $3500 for the elite travel team and took a ton of vacation days from her job to take Jenna to all the games out of state.  I am just thankful that I got to spend some time with Donna.  Who'd of thought that two women from two different states could have met online and become such close friends? 
A little girl, about 3 years old, walked by us in Paneras, carrying her tray after she finished eating.  She was so adorable and I said to her mother that she should enjoy the years now because once that adorable little girl turns 13 and gets a nasty teenage mouth she will  really relish these years! The mom, who looked all of 20 years old said "She is my fifth child, my 18 year old daughter just graduated from high school!"  We were shocked!  What the heck???  After she left, we said what was wrong with her?? She was so nice and she didn't even have wrinkles! Even if she had her first child at 20, the mom would be 38 or 39.  She looked so much younger than that!

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