...one is silver, but the other gold.

Beth is one of my oldest friends. Well, she's not that old, but our friendship is. She and her husband Jonathan are older than me, were ahead of me three years in school, seniors when I was a freshman. Needless to say, they were my "cool" friends, and that I could hang with them made them even cooler in my eyes. Beth and Jonathan have been, and will always be, some of the most beautiful and talented people I will ever know. I know I am not the only one who can say that of them. Beth's accolades are well-deserved, and more expansive than I can list or remember. I am so proud of her, of them because I know she didn't acheive it alone, as I know so many are.

Jonathan and Beth married the same year as Anthony and me, 10 years ago this spring (though they have lapped us in number of years together . . . over half their lives). We have spent most, if not all, of our adult married lives living in seperate places, only seeing eachother a few times in this decade for dinner, a graduation, a baby dedication, and sharing a phone call here and there at pivotal decision-making times in my life. But they never feel far away.

Most recently I got to see Beth for an event that I know she and I have been praying she would experience for a long time; her very own baby shower. Now baby Julian is here and there are pictures from his birth and the first few weeks of life for family and friends to view online. When I look at them, all of them, I sit in a kind of wonder. Beth's and Jonathan's faces are etched in my brain for the keeping, but the wonder comes from seeing expressions I have never seen before . . . the faces of a mama and daddy. I haven't even known how to congratulate them. How do you tell someone that you are moved to the core for what life now holds for them, and by what they hold in their arms, with a card that says, "Congrats on the new baby!"?

Beyond this day, Beth (and Jonathan) will continue to achieve and accomplish more than most people would dare dream. There is so much more to come in their lives and careers, of that I am sure. I will watch with anticipation at what is to come. Certainly more time will pass before we are able to see each other. Different relationships and other friends have come into our lives who are able to share what we have not been able to; the drop-in visits by the house on the way home from somewhere, the lunch meetings, dinners out, catching a movie together, board games and laughing way too late into the evening . . . the "every day". But I love them dearly. I love a shared past, as silly and serious teens, sweet moments together over the last ten years, and the fact that, whether the call is made or not, Beth is still one of the first people I think of when I want to share something of my life.

More life will happen, with even more literal miles between us than before because of the new journey that lies before them. But I will always be proud to call them my golden friends (please excuse the cheeser kid music).

Here goes . . . Congrats, Beth and Jonathan. Congrats.

June 1990:
Beth's a smart girl. She must be laughing at my hair. (Go ahead. You can, too.) February 2007: The beautiful, soon-to-be-Mommy.