Today I celebrate the 40th birthday of a genius…my best friend, who I’ve known longer than any other friend!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILLIS!!!
Those that know me best, know that I love all things dance! This began at a very early age when my mom put me in ballet at 3! It was also at age 3 that I met my best friend at Pat Brown School of Dancing in Jackson, TN!
Since that time, until now, these four feet have been together in the broadest range of settings…
From the halls of Washington Douglas Elementary School when our Kindergarten classes were side by side, to the performance venue of our hometown Civic Center for countless ballets including Swan Lake, Peter and The Wolf, Alice in Wonderland(when there was a fire on stage) and who knows how many Nutcrackers and dance recitals…
To the Kid-n-Play, Naughty by Nature, Geto boys Concerts and high school Proms, these four feet have been a lot of places together.
Our paths have been divinely and amazingly intertwined whether we lived in the same city or not.
These four feet took on Atlanta as
Phillis graduated from Spelman while I graduated from Clark Atlanta with our undergraduate degrees.
These four feet took on the Midwest, as Phillis graduated from law school in Michigan while I got my graduate degree in Chicago.
These four feet took on Kentucky, while Phillis did a master’s degree and became a college professor in Lexington, KY and I got my doctorate degree in Louisville, KY.
These four feet have been together in the good times and in the bad. I’ve always heard this term, “in the good times and in the bad.” For years I thought this meant that friends are to stick together when they are both having good times and when they are both having bad times.
Today I celebrate my best friend Phillis because our ‘good times’ and ‘bad times’ don’t always line up.
What does that mean? Friendship is when someone is willing to come down from what should be their ‘good time’ and meet you at your ‘bad time.’
This has been the amazing thing about these last 37 years of friendship. When I failed our honors English class in 12th grade and was not allowed to graduate, Phillis was graduating with an honors diploma and one of the highest GPA’s in the school. Instead of relishing in her good time, she was with me in my bad time.These four feet were still walking together.
When Phillis was on a girls’ trip with a group of her friends, and called me and my voice didn’t sound right, instead of enjoying her good time, she came to be by me at a tough time. These four feet were still going forward together.
When Phillis was preparing to pass her 3rd Bar Exam to become licensed to practice law in a third state(I told you she was a genius), she was spending her study time in Chicago, because she knew that our four feet needed to be together in that season.
I am so grateful today for her 40 years of life. If you have a consistent friend, who’s there in good times and in bad times, even when it doesn’t line up exactly, call them today and thank them.
Currently, these four feet have on snow boots as Phillis practices law in Maryland and I do ministry in Chicago, but from pointe shoes to tap shoes to jazz shoes to high heels, these four feet will be friends forever!
