Have you ever found the friend in your life who makes your life complete? I have. Over 21 years ago. An unlikely match of friendship, has blossomed into the person in my life whose opinion I value more than anything, who remains my biggest fan, a woman of quick wit and a sharp tongue, superb intelligence, and beyond all else a woman I am glad to call my best friend forever.
I first gave her that name of bestie publicly a few months after being inseparable during my time as a D1 Lax players at Syracuse University. While freshman at the ‘Cuse, we lived life with so much joy and laughter. Sadly I had to leave Syracuse early on in college and transfer to a smaller school closer to home. I returned to many of their Lax games to cheer her on. One particular game, I wore a huge button with our pictures on it, and Paige had listed our relationship on the ticket as “her best friend.” From that moment on, most of our relationship remained long-distance. I often dream of the day that we can be neighbors, raising our kids. I catch a glimpse of reality though, physical distance always playing a large role in our separation. Despite the distance, we talk every week, sometimes on good weeks daily. When we are together it seems that time stands completely still, we laugh so hard, we genuinely enjoy each other so much that every other worry in life is temporarily erased.
On my last visit to the DMV, we had a quick and classic Sarbear/Paige outing. In January 2023, Paige and I spent 24 hours together and it was utterly glorious in every sense. We went out to two amazing meals, one at a little German restaurant, and the other at Baltimore Harbor East at a swanky Mexican restaurant. We had grand adventures just driving around Baltimore. There is one classic moment that I will have to share about this trip. I was scheduled to be at my sisters house in Bmore by a certain hour, and Paige lovingly transported me all around and got me to her house Saturday evening. Before that, Paige and I tried to provoke my mother by pretending to be at the downtown Baltimore Casino. We sent her texted pictures of sitting at the slot machines claiming we were hoping to hit the jackpot. Having a blast concocting this pit stop when we weren’t actually gambling to begin with, was brilliant in our minds and we laughed about it all day. Every time I am with her, she removes every worry from my mind. When I dont talk to her for a few days by phone, my mood suffers slightly. She is a beacon of light to me and I am ever so grateful for everything she has done for me as my best friend.
Paige, if you are reading this, and for those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting my “bestie for the restie”, I not only hope that you do, I think it is integral to understanding me better. If it weren’t for this woman, I might not be here today. Paige and I share a love of many things: adventures, games such as pool or even an online board game, reading, writing, our kids our the same age and sworn to marriage, knowledge and research, bad humor and good food. We can stay on the phone chatting for a minimum of an hour to 3-4 hours. I loving refer to her is dude. We have nicknames for each other, we have a plethora of inside jokes. We have a quote book, and too many trips and memories captured by photo to mention. When we were in college, we bought a phone family plan together, and that lasted a long time in terms of young adult years. We have seen each other through bad times and good. Paige is brilliant and owns her own LLC small business that does private consulting on business proposals and development. For a short time, I worked with her on projects and eventually became her operations manager. All the time that hubs was active duty and we were physically separated for that reason, we maintained regular contact and check ins, visiting with each other as frequently as possible. Now as it stands I am in FL and her in the DMV, distance is almost unbearable. I am looking forward to this next phase in our lives as we approach our 40s.
Finally, Paige is one of those people that you can love or hate. Paige doesn’t tolerate people’s BS, especially mine, and will call you out for it. She is quick on her feet and always supportive. Paige I love you very much, I cannot wait for this next phase of our lives. Thank you Paige, for being my voice of reason, my guardian angel, the person I can always count on and the only friend or person in my life that I can be my genuine self. Thank you for always being my BFF. I treasure our friendship and dream of the day we can grow old together and live our best lives.
The Seascapechronicles 