There's something really special about how the sun comes out after the rain and after the clouds. There's a level of blue in the sky that is unrivaled.

At the same time, when it happens outside my window *and* in a friendship at the same time, the parallels are simply just a miracle from G-d.

The short of the story is that one of my friends is clearly one of my Best Friends, ever. And there's this freedom that you find with a Best Friend that's different from all other arrangements. It's that sense of so-open, so-safe, so-I-can-be-really-myself that is one of the greatest treasures anyone can ever attain.

I got to stay up late over coffee in a 24-hour diner until about 2 am last night, clearing the air with a Best Friend, and saying unspoken things that were clouding our friendship. Feelings are never the whole picture, but the whole picture would be lacking if it didn't have feelings. And my feelings today seem so much more *rooted* in reality and clarity and BLUE (like that sky after the rain) than ever before.

Now, I'd be lying if I didn't say that part of this is also there's been a new bar set in my life: If someone ever finally comes along, and they think I take their breath away, and I feel like they take my breath away, they're going to have to measure up to the treasures my Best Friend and I have found in friendship. *laughs* We've established in my life a level of trust and openness in friendship that I've never found before, and that's a pretty high standard someone else is going to have to measure up to someday.

But there's no more lingering 1-in-100 feelings of "well, maybe it'll be this friend after all" like I had left over in my head just yesterday morning, or last week, or the week
before that.

That was a cloud that was hurting our friendship, and we found a way for the rain (tears) and the wind (talk) that finally cleared up the clouds (all those unspoken bits). And now I'm so astonished and awestruck at the beauty of the clear sky today.

Thank you, dearheart. You know who you are.