Of Crashing Waves And Diving In

Friendships come in all shapes, sizes, and ages.
And the ones that last go with the flow - just  like the tides. 
This happened a few weeks ago~
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Brown Eyed Girl is no longer a girl. She’s a newly minted teenager who will soon be taller than me — and that freaks me out a little. 

But she is still my Brown Eyed Girl. My sweet, kind, funny, and smart friend who I am lucky to have.  

And like me, she notices the small details and is a lover of books and the ocean.

When I arrived at the beach, Brown Eyed Girl wasn’t happy because 13 is tough — and I’ll leave it at that. 

A half hour later I asked her if she wanted to take a walk - and that’s what we did. 

We walked and talked for a good twenty minutes — until we both decided it was time to go for a swim. 

As we walked in the the ocean I told her: My summer doesn’t officially kick-off until I go in the ocean with you. 

 And those words made her smile. And then like she always does, she dove right in — and I did not. 

As always, I let the waves crash over me, shuddering at every wave that I walked towards, then through. 

“Dive in and you’ll be fine! The fact that she always has to tell me to "dive in," plus the fact that she was laughing while she said it made my heart happy.

Me: Kid, how long have we been doing this? You know it takes me a while, but once I get my head wet, you can’t get me out!”

Brown Eyed Girl: I know, Kel! 
Hey, I’m glad you don’t have to take off your pump anymore. That pod thing makes makes it easier because now I don’t have to wait for you to disconnect — and that makes me not worry as much.

Me: How many times do I have to tell you - you don’t have to worry about me. I’m good. Everything is Ok.

Brown Eyed Girl: I know… I just... do. I worry about all the people I love. 

Me: I know you do... me too. 

And than I yelled “dive under, NOW” and together we dove under a huge wave that was barreling towards us - and as always, we metaphorically washed all our troubles away in the sea. 

And just like that, my summer officially started. 

We laughed, swam and talked — I was updated to the fact that she “really likes Carrie Underwood’s music," and we both discovered that “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn,” is one of our shared favorite books! 

And then we got down to the business of serious body surfing - shredding the waves until we owned them. 

45 minute later, exhausted and out of breath, we left our beloved Atlantic, descended on the beach and trekked back to our chairs - where we dried off and sat down. 

I grabbed my pod’s PDM/meter out of my cooler and checked my blood sugar - it was 110 and that made me smile.

Brown Eyed Girl came up from behind my chair, put her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear: Is that OK? Is everything OK? 
I squeezed her arm and whispered back: Yep, everything is “OK.” It's all good~  

Because in that moment and no matter the number  - it was.