Anam Cara

Sometime in the last decade, my dear, life-long friend Michelle gave me a necklace with the words “Anam Cara” engraved onto its pendant. Anam Cara is Gaelic for “Soul Friend.” Supposedly Anam Cara refers to the spiritual belief of souls connecting and bonding.  Indeed, we are Soul Friends. Through good times and bad. Helping one another. Always loving one another. 

As early teens, we made up a story of being Irish sisters whose Papa owned a potato farm. I think we hoped it would give us an edge in the soon-to-be dating world, however, I”m not sure it  was interesting to anyone but the two of us. I think we started believing we were more Irish than our heritage because of “dear ol’ Papa” and the horrible fake accent we concocted.

Michelle and I have been through so much together -  knitting club, teenage angst, lots of dramatic poetry, marriages, divorces, babies, death of loved ones, endless giggling on little sleep and many batches of french fries.  Whenever I’ve needed my friend, she has always been there for me.  Even when I was difficult and probably selfish.

About a year ago, Michelle came to visit and said she had to confess something to me.  “I bought that same necklace for two other friends.”  Whaaaaa?!?!?!? How could my Anam Cara whisper such sweetness to another, less soul-friend, friend?!  Did those women hold you as you cried your eyeballs out when (undisclosed name of teenage boy) broke up with you?  Stick up for you when you got in trouble by your parents? Cry with you when you squeezed out your only child?  Did she?!  I admit, I felt petty and a little cheated.  I got over it in a couple minutes.  She is my dearest friend, after all, and she’s pretty wonderful, so I can see how she could be a gigolo of a friend, errr, I mean have other very special friends besides me. (In my heart I knew I was the real “Anam Cara”...) 

Last night on my drive home from my visit with Michelle, it occurred to me how wonderfully blessed I am to have so many amazing, strong, tender and beautiful women in my life. They are family and friend. Spending time with them graces me, recharges my batteries and feeds my soul.  Thank you dear friends for sharing your awesomeness with me. There will only be one Irish-Potato-Farmin'-Sistah, but I too have many Anam Caras.