Walking Each Other Home

Margaret and Carol were best friends. They grew up together, going to the same church and school. They also shared almost-the-same-day birthdays, Carol's, June 17th and Margaret's, June 19th. As first graders, they conspiratorially rolled down their hot woolen stockings into fat sausages around their ankles.

The friends had a special tradition. They met at the library to while-away the hours, reading and spending time together. When it was time to go home, since they lived an equal distance, but in opposite directions from the central point of the library, they would draw out the time by "walking each other home". Carol would walk all the way or half-way to Margaret's home, then they would turn around and walk all the way or half-way to Carol's home, sometimes ending up by parting once again, back at the library, to ensure that each girl still had an equal distance to walk alone.

When Margaret got married, Carol was a bridesmaid.

Even when they had been married for years and had raised their children, they exchanged letters, frequent letters that often crossed each other in the mail. Questions that one letter asked, might be answered before the letter even reached it's intended recipient. Or one might have to wait for the next letter, following the one received most recently, to get the eventual answer sought, because of the lag in delivery. They could have solved all of this, perhaps, by simply calling each other on the phone to share information, but the special anticipation of waiting for a letter, then upon receiving it, savoring the words (the very thoughts and feelings of a dear friend) was beyond comparison. A simple conversation cannot convey the same feeling as a well written letter, with it's thoughtful composition and honest emotion, free of distraction. A letter can be read over and over...drawing out the time spent with a dear friend

... like walking each other home.