Some of you that have been following my blog for awhile will recall seeing the above photo here once before.  That's me on the right and Mary Ann, my best girlfriend from second grade on the left. It was October 1959 and we were both 12 years old.  We had been the best of friends for five years since meeting in the middle of second grade at SS Peter & Paul School in Reading, Ohio in 1954.  My father got transferred with his job at GE from the Boston area and we relocated.  Mary Ann was the first one to make me feel comfortable in that large classroom filled with strange kids and this month........we celebrate FIFTY-FIVE years of friendship!  Yes, 55 years.  She is my oldest and dearest friend.

I may have moved away from Reading that October in 1959, but over these fifty-five years we have managed to nurture that friendship that began so long ago.  We graduated high school, married, raised children, divorced, remarried, started careers, had grandchildren and still, our friendship endured.  Oh, there were times we'd lose touch and even now, we're not constantly in touch..........but before too much time slips past, one of us sends a note, a letter, an email.  And it's like time has stood still for us.

The other day I got a card from Mary Ann congratulating me on my book contract and the upcoming release of SPINNING FORWARD.  But tucked inside were newspaper clippings of Mary Ann's own success and achievement.  I may be the author, but Mary Ann is the artist.  When I read that first clipping, I filled with tears.  For a few reasons.

From that very first time we met fifty-five years ago, we both knew we had a passion.  Yes, even at seven years old.  Mine was for writing.  Mary Ann's was for drawing.  I was the one you'd see with notebook and pencil scribbling words and Mary Ann was the one with sketchpad and colored pencils bringing her imagination alive with pictures.  Our creativity and passion has stayed with us over all of these years.  I guess you could call us both late bloomers.  I now have a contract with a large, New York publisher and Mary Ann is being recognized for her unique paintings of Native American culture.  This past October she was the featured artist of the month at the Superstition Mountain Museum in Apache Junction, Arizona, where she has lived for the past twelve years.  She's a member of the American Water Color Society in New York, nominee to the Woman's Art Museum in Washington, DC and a member of Cobre Valley Center for the Arts in Globe, and the Center for the Arts in Tubac in Tucson.  Her interest in Native Americans came from her father, himself a Cherokee. 

One of the clippings in the paper says "she is a native of Cincinnati who chose to move to the desert for her inspiration."  I find this another link in our friendship.  Mary Ann receives inspiration from the desert and mountains and as many of you know, I'm inspired by the element of water......both of us resonate strongly with nature in our creativity.

Here's one of the clippings that she sent..........

You probably can't read much of the clipping but Mary Ann's (she goes by Mariah for her professional name) mission statement is: "Art is never chance. God guides all our hands even when they shake." And my friend learned this the hard way........she has had five strokes, and after having her bedside table made into an easel and a sand doughnut was placed on her wrist to hold her hand still, she kept painting.  "That was my life," she said. "I had to or I'd die."  Yes, I know that feeling.  That's true passion.  And I'm so very proud of her. 

Mary Ann is an inspiration.......strong and independent, she wasn't about to let the curves that life threw her hold her back.  Her passion pushed her forward.

And the friendship that we share means so very much to me.  So many acquaintances have drifted in and then out of my life.  I hear from them for whatever reason and then poof!  They're gone.  Again.  But not Mary Ann.  If I've been busy and haven't been in touch, she never allows too much time to pass before she takes it upon herself to contact me.  That's a true friend. 

I visited Mary Ann in Arizona 10 years ago.....after not seeing each other in person for 17 years.  And she visited me when I lived in New Port Richey about 8 or 9 years ago.  So it's been much too long since we've been together in person.  But you can bet that when SPINNING FORWARD is released, one of the first places I'll be signing books is in the Phoenix area, which will enable me to have quality time with my treasured childhood friend.

So here's to us, girlfriend.  To fifty-five years of continued and wonderful friendship.  Sharing the ups, the downs, the joys, the sorrows.  But always sharing it together.  I'm so grateful you've crossed my path.  I love you, Mary Ann.

And for you, my readers, see you here next time................