We'll always be "partners in crime...."

This week's Friendship Friday post is about A.P.

I also met A.P. during freshman year of high school. I think she traveled in the same social circles as L.B. (from last week's post). We also were in choir together. She was genuinely nice and I liked that she was amused by the fact that I sometimes said curse words. She thought I was too innocent for that.

We were in BBG together, as well. There was a baking contest for "Invite" and I had brought these Funfetti cookies that I enjoy baking. At the time, I wasn't aware that the rules didn't allow for items made from cake mixes. Instead of panicking, A.P. helped me "fake a recipe." Thankfully, we didn't win the baking contest. They probably thought we used too much sugar. We would have felt so guilty otherwise. From that point on, we became "partners in crime." We even signed each other's yearbooks as "Your partner in crime." Around that same time, her mom was fixated on getting me to not say "like," rendering myself to sound like a valley girl in the process. We got some jokes out of that too.

We didn't get to hang out as often during the rest of our high school years. We saw each other in classes and at choir concerts and we always had fun talking during those times. It was one of those friendships where we knew we could be friends even if we didn't travel in the same circles anymore.

In the summer of 1998, we ran into each other at a performance of "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind." At that time, we were with our (now) ex-boyfriends. We enjoyed seeing each other again and catching up. We exchanged contact information, but managed to slip out of touch again.

During the fall of 2004, we ran into each other again at a Makor after-dinner social. This time I was married and she was engaged to a really nice guy. We started getting together more often. I'd invite her over for parties and game nights. I even helped her reconnect to some other friends from high school. After I had my older son in September 2005, she caught the baby "bug" (after attending my bris and some other gatherings where she got to hold him a lot) and gave birth to her son a year later. She then caught the same "bug" after I had my younger son in March 2008 and had a daughter in April 2009. She hadn't even met my younger son at the time!

When we moved to New Jersey in 2007, she and her family moved to Rhode Island a little while later. In December 2008, we had her family over for a Shabbat weekend. It was nice to spend time with them again. Our kids had a blast playing together. A few weeks later, they made an impromptu stop at our house for New Year's Eve, while on their way to Baltimore. They came to visit again last July, as well.

The last time I saw A.P., she brought a huge assortment of clothes with her, as she didn't have a need for them anymore. There were maternity clothes, as well as baby and toddler items. I appreciated her generosity, as she could have just donated them nearby instead of schlepping them out my way.

I'm hoping A.P. will come to the DC area for a visit sometime, although we'd like to visit her and her family in RI, as well. I'm glad we can stay in touch and keep up with each other's lives on Facebook. No matter what happens, we'll always be partners in crime!