My best friend had a baby this morning!

I just got a call from my best friend! She's a mama for the first time. I'm so giddy that I don't even know what to do. I'm 5 hours away, but I want to get in the car and drive there immediately. Unfortunately that is going to have to wait.

She is the best friend who cries when you cry, and then makes you laugh. She is the best friend that you can share any immature nasty thought that you would never admit to anyone else . She is the best friend who laughs as hard as you do at something that other people wouldn't find the least bit amusing. She never tells you to suck it up. She never disregards your feelings. She is supportive in your successes and failures. She makes my life a happier lighter place to be.

Lisa and I have been best friends for over 20 years. But things did not get off to a good start. She walked into my 6th grade class loudly exclaiming over whether or not her lipstick was strait and if her hair was alright while preening in front of a little mirror she kept in her purse. For me, it was annoyance at first glance.

She was petite and cute. I was lanky and awkward. She had these beautiful bouncy curls. My hair was a strait as a stick. She had grown up near a city. I was a country girl. She was outgoing and talkative. I was quiet and brooding. She was into boys. I was into books. This girl was the antithesis of all that was me.

To my dismay, she quickly made friends with my friends, and I was forced to interact with her. To say that I rolled my eyes often at her antics would be an understatement. But I learned to tolerate her and even grudgingly began to get a kick out of her bubblyness.

Then, literally, overnight we became best friends. We both went to a sleepover party of one of my good friends. We giggled and laughed half the night. I still remember some of the goofy things that went on that night. To this day, we still have a private joke that came out of her sleep talking. And that was the beginning of our best friendship.

As time went on, we were still best friends, but our interests began to diverge. I was drawn towards math and science. She was drawn to writing. I played field hockey. She was a cheerleader. Her friends and my friends changed as well. I was a rule follower and she was more likely to push the limits. But through it all, she was still my best friend.

We went to different colleges and Lisa finally had the freedom to really go wild! She partied heavily and all that entails. She'd call me and tell me what she had been up to and I would get incredibly exasperated. Didn't she know she could "DIE!" from that stuff. She'd just laugh, and I suspect, enjoy my reaction. She did things that I would never have tried. But deep down, I lived vicariously through some of her adventures. I even laughed at her stories when I wanted to yell at her. But through it all, she was still my best friend.

As the years have passed, Lisa has calmed down a bit. I've loosened up a bit, and I think occassionally I even surprise her. She was the first one I called when I found out I was pregnant with Collin. Chris and I weren't married at the time and I was on the pill. She was astounded, but in her typical amazingly supportive way she told me that she would support me no matter what I decided to do. The next words out of her mouth made me laugh through my fear. "This shouldn't happen to you. This should have happened to me!" Ah-Ha! I had finally outdone her. LOL!

When I had Collin, our paths again diverged. I was married with a child. She was still single. I was a stay at home mom. She was a career driven woman. I was pregnant with my second child, as she was marrying her wonderful husband. My pregnancies came incredibly quickly and easily. She had to work for hers. My oldest child is 10 and her oldest isn't even a day old. But through this all, she will remain my very best friend. And I will get the opportunity to live vicariously through her again as she enters into an adventure I have never had: raising a little girl!!

Congratulations, Mama! I love you!