A correspondence between Diana Storrs and her friend Sherry

          I haven't met Sherry--but Diana is a good friend and a member of my Sunday writing group.  Last week she read this exchange between her and her best friend.  I liked it so much I asked if I could post it.

          In September of 2011, Sherry invited Diana to come to Bali to spend three months with her:

         "It's a magical place!  We could rent a villa and have massages (about $10 for an hour and a half) and flower petal baths (soooo cheap) and eat the most magnificent food for pennies, and take yoga at the yoga barn (fabulous thatched roof open air platform overlooking the rice paddies..."

          Diana thought about her offer for a while and then responded with this email:

Dear friend,

       I have been reflecting...and wanted to share my thoughts with you...When I first read your plan, the part of me that is still that 18-year-old native Minnesota girl  wanted to shout, "Yes!  An adventure with Sherry?!  Where do I sign up?"  But, my friend, I have not yet evolved to the plane you occupy.

      This Bali chapter is so purely "Sherry."  Our lives may have taken different paths, but we will know each other.  That you would ask me and that I would consider it attests to that mutual knowledge.  I'm thrilled for you!

        Here are some thoughts I jotted down:

You're a leaper.  I'm a plodder.
You're a dreamer.  I'm a realist.
You define your space.  I'm defined by my space.
You are a visionary.  I'm a pragmatist.
You have the soul of a poet, an artist, and a muse. I'm a bean counter.
You are a charmer.  I can be charming.
Your spirit is like a hummingbird. My spirit lives inside a box inside a box inside a box.
You are watched.  I watch.
You have one toe touching a branch.  I'm deeply rooted.
You touch the face of God.  I kneel before Him.
You sing. I pray.
You fly guided by the stars. I navigate with a compass.
You fly.  I feed the pilot.
You continue to fly.  I became grounded.

You are the incense.  I light the incense---and sneeze!

You will always be my best friend.

Diana

         On September 13th, Sherry wrote back:

         Wow, girlfriend!  I think I need to take writing classes from you!  However, you have it all backwards...I have not evolved to the plane you occupy.  I'm still mentally 18 believing I can do it all, be it all, have it all, experience it all.  You are the one who has made peace with life and can be content with what is....The fact that you gave it a moment of consideration thrilled me to the core, to the marrow!  Thank you for that.  If I am to have a travel companion, one will manifest....
          Thank you for the poetic rendering of who we are.  I will print it and keep it to remind myself of how others probably see me...or at least one another...and use it as a guide for all the areas that would benefit from refinement.
           Your BFF Sherry