The hint of vanilla...

It snowed today. And I know it's crazy for some people now, roads are icy, there are many accidents and some people's lives were changed forever tonight. But for me, it's peaceful. There's a small blanket of white on the ground; somehow life is a little more pure tonight.

It's odd how one person's tragedy can be another person's comfort.

I've got the big mug I bought at the grand canyon. I went there over the summer with two of my best friends. These girls are sisters. Our lives are changing, our relationships are shifting a little. Megan got married last year. Stacy has been married two years and just had a baby a little over a week ago. (She is the cutest baby ever, and that is just fact. No bias.) And I'm single. We all live in different states and we are all in different phases of life. Things can't help but change. I remember when one of my professors in college told me the girls I was best friends with then would just be Christmas card friends in a few years. Well, if there was ever a time that could start to happen, it would probably be now. And that's life, that's normal.

But the three of us have never been normal.

Whatever changes, however difficult things become. If Stacy has 12 kids and I get 12 cats. Then Megan will compromise and have 6 kids and 6 cats. Because we just make it work, even if we have to work harder. And we will be there for each other, even if we are toting kids and cats with us.

So I'm sipping Sleepytime Vanilla tea from my grand canyon mug. And I could be sad and long for past times, when we were all in the same phase, when I was more confident of our place in each others' lives. But I look down and the mug is half full. And it tastes of comfort, with a little hint of sweetness. And the world is white. I can't help but smile.

Because phases don't change hearts. And there will be more trips and there will be more mugs. Even if I just visit their home and have to steal a mug from their kitchen.

And there it is. Separation intertwined. Tragedy and comfort. The silver lining in a storm. The hint of vanilla.

Cheers.