what a best friend does

a great friend is great to have
a friend that you can call one of the best, even better

a friend who will accept you and love you is great
a friend who will accept you and love you despite the fact that you are mostly obnoxious and selfish most of the time, even better

a friend who will hang out with you
even though you are not nearly cool enough to hang out with her

a friend who will teach you how to be a wife
except she does not have to tell you how to be a wife
she just shows you by being a wife

a friend who will teach you how to be a mother
except she does not have to tell you how to be a mother
she just shows you by being a mother

a friend who will walk with you through the excitement of pregnancy
and then hold you when you lose that baby before you ever meet her and you can't stay put together

a friend who will walk with you again through the excitement of the next pregnancy
and loan you cute maternity clothes
and tell you you look beautiful pregnant when you feel fat and sweaty
and take maternity photos of you so that you remember that your pregnant self was, in fact, beautiful

and be there to wait with your family when that baby is coming
and take photos of those first few moments with that precious new life

you should sign up for a friend like that
wherever one signs up for friends

a friend who moves across the country
but still stays close at heart

a friend who opens her home and cares for your baby when you can't be there

and a friend who does a secret baby photo shoot and surprises your on baby's first birthday with said photos

it was amazing to realize that moments of eden's life that i had missed were captured without me knowing and preserved for me forever. it was like a little bit of magic to open them up in the mail