Oil, Meet Water
Of the people who are close to you, who is the person most unlike you? What makes it possible for you to get along?
Kit is my oldest, closest friend – friends since we were eleven years old.
She named herself Kit the Wit when we first met.
And she named me Dort the Snort (not particularly flattering but I took the humiliation).
We still go by those insanely silly names and when we are shopping together she will holler out, “Hey Snort, look at this!”
And I will say, “That looks great on you Wit.”
And she signs her letters, “Love, Wit.” And mine are, “Love, Snort.”
The names no longer sound funny to us but I’ll bet they do to the rest of the world.
Kit and I are total opposites in almost every way.
She is disorganized. I am organized.
She is fun loving. I am serious.
She is pinned together. I am put together.
I never put things off ‘til later. Kit procrastinates.
I am always early. She is always late.
She sleeps past noon. I am up with the birds.
I am careful. Kit rushes headlong into the next adventure.
What makes it possible for us to get along?
Laughter.
We cannot talk long without doubling over laughing.
Trust.
I know I can trust Kit with anything and can share my most secret thoughts. And I know she feels the same. We share a mutual trust.
Silliness.
When we are together we are “girls” again, talking until 3:00 AM like when we used to “spend the night” together.
Differences.
Maybe it is because we are opposites we so enjoy each other and that was what drew us together in the first place.
Value.
I value Kit for her free spirit and her abandoned uninhibited approach to life. And I suspect she admires my careful analyses of life’s dangers before I jump into things.
There is only one catch. After three days under the same roof, we weaken from lack of sleep and there is a rapid decline in communication. You might say that after three days “we are at each others’ throats.”
Memories.
But we are like sisters who occasionally fight. I have known Kit longer than I knew my own parents. We played paper dolls, rode bikes, giggled over boys, traded clothes, dated, married, had kids and grandkids and have stayed friends all these many years. We have so many memories ranging from childhood to old age and we share a rare and beautiful friendship that has endured over decades.
If you are reading this Wit, I love you.
Virginia Views 