Duluth Sister

Duluth Sister

It’s wonderful to have a best friend who is like a sister to you, especially when your sister is 1250 miles away from you. Sharon and I are like sisters. We share each other’s joys, troubles, pains and all the things you would share with a close sister. I am also close like that with my sister in PA, but having a “sister” nearby to talk with and be with is truly a blessing.

It was like she and I were supposed to meet and become close friends. When our boys were both Boy Scout age, her boys were in boy scouts and so was one of our boys. I used to see this woman always sitting by herself at the scout meetings. I noticed that she didn’t talk to anyone else. I would smile at her, but the occasion didn’t happen that we talked with each other, as after the meeting, I would see she was gone. Anyhow, after that, I would see her at different places in the community, like at the grocery store, the drug store, and again I’d see her sitting at the Boy Scout meetings. I always smiled at her, and she always smiled back. Neither of us ever talked to each other. This happened for a good 6 – 8 months. Finally, one day I was at the local drugstore in our neighborhood. Again, I saw her. This time I decided to say something. Instead of just smiling, I went up to her and said hello, and I introduced myself. We both commented that we’ve often seen each other in the neighbor-hood. Anyhow, that was the start of a great friendship.

I believe that this happened at a time when both of us really needed a good friend. I had lots of “friends” in my life in Duluth, and when I had worked at the bank for 7 years, I had a best friend there. But, this was a time in my life, where I wasn’t employed out of the home, and wasn’t seeing my best friend from the bank too often. My neighbors, who were good friends, all had gone back to the work force about the time I left the work force and stayed home. Sharon confided in me later, that she had been going through a rough time in her life, she was getting over a bad car accident, and had been dealing with pain from it’s aftermath. She was feeling blue during that time, which is why she always looked sad. She told me that finding a friend who was happy and upbeat with life was just what she needed at that time. That’s why I say “we were meant to be friends”.

Sharon and I started talking to each other on the phone. She had recently become a Tupperware dealer, and I had recently become a “Mary Kay” consultant. We decided to work together on an open house to promote our fares. Working together in that way really “cemented” our friendship. We started doing other things together, visiting with each other and introduced our husbands to each other. So, now, Sharon and are not just best friends, Sharon and Jerry are one of our best “couple” friends to Bob and I.

All it took was smiles, and being brave enough to say hello and make an introduction to find my sister in Duluth!