Monday, May 04, 2009


ST. KATHLEEN

A mutual friend of Kathleen's and mine recently pointed out that I always get cranky when Kathleen is out of town or otherwise engaged, and our walking schedule gets interrupted. And our walking schedule has been wildly affected because of her saintly taking to and fro of Rojo to Outdoor School, then last week her parents were in town and she had to go and be all good daughter on me. Again with the saint.

Could be the lack of endorphins that's causing the problem, the whole cranky problem that is, because God forbid I walk a step without her! Won't. Do. It. Feels like torture.

But it's more than that. It's the loss of who and what grounds me.

According to Wikipedia, "a connection to ground limits the voltage built up between power circuits and the earth, protecting circuit insulation from damage due to excessive voltage." And if I know anything about electrical engineering (stop laughing), that's a good thing to protect oneself against.

So that's exactly right, that's what Kathleen does for me, she protects against damage due to excessive voltage.

I am nothing if not full of excessive voltage.

And I'm nothing without St. Kathleen.

13 comments:

Suzy said...

I am sure it works both ways...

You are both very fortunate.

Love you

Suzy

Lola said...

I have a chill. This is a beautiful post paying homage to a friendship and besides that, it's just true and what great friendship is!!!!

Amber said...

Awww. A good friend is gold.

:)

Rev. Christine said...

Great description of friendship. And what a blessing you have.

Wanda said...

You are MUCH without St. Kathleen...and being grounded is a very good thing.

To friendships that improve us!

Tanya @ Teenautism said...

She sounds lovely! Birds of a feather, of course!

Anonymous said...

you are both so incredibly blessed to have that kind of friendship. i was going to say treasure it, but i know you do.

kario said...

I love that you looked up "grounding" on Wikipedia! I'll bet St. K is feeling pretty good right about now. You deserve a terrific friend like that.

Love to you both.

Jenny said...

Wish we lived closer - I'd love to be your backup walking partner (not that I could ground you like Kathleen or anything, but there is something about a partner that makes walking much more fun).

Jerri said...

This makes me cry. My former neighbor and daily walking partner for 16 years is facing breast cancer right now.

We solved the problems of the world clicking off our 10,000 steps for the day. We listened and talked through illnesses, deaths in our families, teenage drama and silliness of all sorts.

You're not nothing without St. K, you're simply more with her. Blessings to you both.

Robin said...

I LOVE a good engineering analogy. Can I expand (pleeeez)?Other ways to keep excess charge from building up are "bonding" - connecting to another and "relaxation" - pausing and allowing the chage to naturally dissipate. (I am so sorry, this is what geeks do for fun.)

BTW, I could use some discharging myself, gonna go look for some conductive wire.....

Deb Shucka said...

I love that you have this friendship. I believe you are everything you even without her - you just have access to the wonder of you because of her.

Ask Me Anything said...

Just beautiful...she exudes that love, and groundedness. So happy you appreciate her, always.