beyond cinderella

Bonds of friendhsips…Don’t you just love  the time you spend with your friends? I treasure all my friendships and the time I spend with my friends no matter what we do. Sometimes we go walking, biking, shopping, out to lunch or just hang out together laughing and catching up from our last visit …”and all that jazz …”

The people I call my real friends are those I’ve developed a relationship with over time. Time taken to really get to know and understand each other…”and all that jazz”. People I’ve come to trust and know I can count on and who know they can trust and count on me….”and all that jazz” The bonds I have with my real friends, are second only to the bonds I have with my husband, Bill, who also happens to be my very best friend, and my beautiful daughter, Shantel.

I’ve always told my daughter Shantel that I believe the special bonds of real friendships need to be nurtured, just like family bonds are…Then, even when your separated by distance, you’ll  still feel connected, and loved…”and all that jazz”.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve watched my daughter, Shantel, develop a beautiful friendship with a girl her age that she met in college.

Meet Shantel’s friend, Jaz, on the right. Jaz is “all that jazz” and so much more to Shantel.

Jaz and Shantel have developed a mutual respect for each other, are mentors to each other, and very much enjoy spending time together “and all that jazz…” They hang out together between classes at school, go to lunch together, take the bus across town when they want to visit a mall or try a new restaurant, stay up half the night working on homework together “and all that jazz…”

This past week, Jaz and Shantel were out of school on spring break and asked me if I would take them hiking. We drove to South Mountain Park and took the Kiwanis trail which was beautiful and moderately challenging for me, so naturally I was concerned it might be too difficult for Shantel and Jaz trying to climb up the rocky mountain trail together. I asked Jaz if she was comfortable being sighted guide for Shantel. Jaz never hesitated one bit when she responded “no, I’ve got this, we walk together all the time..” So I dropped back and let the two friends hike in the distance ahead of me…as I witnessed the beautiful bond of trust and friendship they have developed.

Jaz and Shantel laughed, talked, and enjoyed the early morning hike together and the time spent deepened their bond even further “and all that jazz”…

As I waited at the bottom of the rocky mountain trail watching Jaz and Shantel make their decent down the mountain, I was about to take one more picture of them hiking together when two ladies came up to me and told me how impressed they were with the sight of Jaz and Shantel coming down the mountain hiking trail…They asked me if they could take a picture for themselves, then offered to take a picture of Shantel, Jaz, and I together. They went on and on about how impressed they were to see the girls hiking together…I smiled to myself and thought “oh, it’s no big deal…it’s just all that Jaz…”!

Stay Tuned!