With lavender, jade and ashes, Andrea

That's how she signs her letters. I asked her once what it meant and she told me they are three things of great beauty to her. She is a thing of beauty to me.

We met three years ago in the waiting room of a psychologists office. Our children had been escorted into their appointments and we were left in a silent room of expired, colorless magazines. She extended a warm smile and I accepted the invitation by relocating to the seat next to her. She looked at home in that office, resigned to a world that I had just entered into. The conversation flowed easily, the time much too short for all that we had to say. The time is always too short when I'm with Andrea.

She is feminine, mild mannered, witty and charitable. She is generous in her assessments and slow to judge. She speaks slowly, each thought beautifully articulated and hopeful. Her strengths are my weaknesses and yet she finds the same measure of joy in our friendship as I do. Her presence in my life reminds me to breath more deeply and pause more often to take in the beauty around me.

I often think of how I would like to sign my name. It seems to change with each day.

What are your "lavender, jade and ashes?"