There is something to be said for friends who have your back. But friends who would literally CARRY you on their back? That’s a whole different ball game. 
     My friend Emily is that person. She would give you the shirt off her back and then carry you on it. I know this because she did just that over this past weekend. I went to go visit her in Washington D.C. after we had been planning on having a girl’s weekend for over two years to go see the cherry blossoms & do touristy stuff. It all started in December of 2014 when Em came home to her Aunt’s house to work on her thesis for her doctoral dissertation and we met up to have lunch as I live in the same general area as her aunt in Upstate New York.

      I ended up having some unexpected heart surgery not long after that and we decided that we were both in need of a vacation when we had completed our “recovery” from both events. So after staying in close touch (Em & I went to high school together & grew up a couple streets away from each other), we finally made a plan to “cherry blossom it” at the end of March this year. I was finally relatively healthy, she was finally “Dr. Peca”, & in between trips to Africa so we were set to go. 

    So I got there & we started our journey. It was so much fun. But clearly, my body is still not quite AS strong as I might like to think because after walking approximately 4 miles to the Lincoln Memorial from her apartment in reasonably cold, damp weather, I had a mini physical meltdown and started to kinda fall apart. I tried REALLY hard to pull it together but there was no hiding it. I was failing (& miserably), so we taxi’d it home for some rest time, & as we entered Em’s building the thought of walking up the three flights of stairs to her apartment was almost too much to bear, but I sure wasn’t going to say that. So Emily asked me how much I weighed. Not even realizing why she was asking the question, I replied with my answer and she just dutifully nodded her head and said, “Ok, hop on. My trainer is gonna love this when I tell him!” I honestly didn’t think she was serious until she leaned forward and slapped her back. I said “no” at first but realized there was no arguing with her so I just hopped on and up the stairs we went. It was truly one of the most SELFLESS things anyone has ever done for me. But, because she’s Em, she outdid herself & when I lost my wallet later that day, she paid for the rest of my weekend there. Just because she’s that kind of friend. She’s got your back. 

   When you find that kind of person, hold on to them tight. Don’t let go. Cherish them, & know that what you have is a VERY, VERY GOOD FRIEND & it’s a VERY, VERY GOOD THING!!