There's Nothing Like the Magic of a Dragonfly

When I lived in Reno a lot of people knew me for the dragonfly pins I wore and a lot of people asked me about them.

"Every one has a story behind it," I'd say and then tell the story of whatever pin I had on for the day.

Some were from my children, some from readers or viewers who knew I liked them, I have two from my father and one from my mother. In fact my mother was the first to give me a dragonfly. I was going through my divorce at the time and had a tough time going into court without crying.

My mother lovingly told me to buck-up, find a way to be strong enough to avoid the crying yet remain as elegant as possible. "Like a dragonfly," she said.  And she sent me a dragonfly pin to wear. The whole collection just grew from there.

Well, I got the newest addition to my collection for Christmas this year. My very good fiend Cathie Leary sent it all the way from Reno. It's my favorite colors, blue and green, it's part of our decades long tradition of exchanging Christmas ornaments for the holidays and it's beautiful. More even more than that, it's a reminder of our heartfelt friendship even though we aren't even in the same country right now.

It seems to me that we make a lot of acquaintances in life, but only a handful of very close friends. The kind of people you never lose touch with, the ones who stand by you through ups and downs, through good times and bad and who are always there for you, no questions asked. 

Well Cathie is that for me. So thank you for the dragonfly and for so many years of true friendship!