it's a nice day to start again

Natalie,

Hello dear, dear friend. It seems like forever since I last wrote to you. And even longer yet since the last time we got to chat. Most of that's my fault - the days just seem so full and they speed by so fast. But I guess I'll throw a little of the responsibility your way, too. If only you'd get over your need to live a hemisphere away!

Those busy days I mentioned most recently took us to some of your favored old stomping grounds. We spent the weekend in DC visiting our friend Carolyn for her birthday. Clayton hadn't been since he was a kid so everything seemed new to him. But even though I saw stuff I hadn't seen before, for me it was like one big memory rush. The springtime trip our junior year of college where a super grown up and sophisticated Nat showed me around her new home. The much, much colder New Year's return a few year's later when we drove through a snow storm to deliver your car to Virginia. Remember our drinking night at Old Glory in Georgetown? I walked by it Saturday night and couldn't believe we had ever been that young. And as I took a chilly look at the South Lawn of the White House, I recalled standing in almost the exact same place thinking how lonely the city looked right after 9-11. Clayton and I had a great time with great friends in a great city. But it made me miss you like crazy!

Speaking of Clayton, It's amazing to me that I have finally found my brown-haired boy (I upgraded from the brown eyes!) and you have yet to meet him. Remember all those late night talks, phone conversations, and emails where we dissected the male species and dreamt of who we would share our lives with? I think it was only a few years ago the last time we played MASH:) You always had a crush on someone new and I for so many years lived my crush life vicariously through you. Well this crush just ain't going away, Buggie. He's everything you could possibly want for me, everything I've ever wanted for myself. And I'm keeping him!

Work has been crazy. But isn't it always a little that way? Or, at least for me. But my priority rank for work has definitely changed over the last several years. And I have you to partially thank for that. I distinctly remember a conversation we had as we were driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains on a beautiful fall day. It was one of our birthday rendezvous adventures, I was about to turn 30. The week after that milestone I had to face some of the hardest decisions I'd ever been asked to make. And those decisions changed my life path forever. You were pretty harsh with me. And for the first time made me acknowledge that while I may have chosen medicine as my profession I didn't have to make it my life. It was a wake up call for me. And certainly helped me make my decision to leave Mansfield, take a sabbatical, and get my life back on track. So, in case I haven't said it previously, thank you:)

The holidays are upon us and I'm so looking forward to heading back to Missouri to spend them with the family. You wouldn't believe how big (and beautiful) the nieces are! Wanna know what I want for Christmas, Nat? To see your smiling face and hear your unmistakable laugh. To give my oldest friend the kind of hug that I reserve for my sisters. The kind of hug that feels a lot like home.

With love,
Amy